Preview: Championship

Unbeaten league leaders Brighton take on Hull City in a top of the table clash at the Amex Stadium. The Sussex side are top of the division thanks to their 3-2 win away at Ipswich in the last game before the international break, whereas Hull sit in second, just three points behind their hosts after beating Preston 2-0 at the KC Stadium. The Seagulls will be buoyed by the fact that young midfielder Rohan Ince has penned a new deal to stay with the club until 2018 – adding to the feel good factor around the AMEX Stadium.

Still without a win are Rotherham – they now sit bottom with four defeats to their name, the most recent of which was a 3-1 defeat to Fulham a fortnight ago. Manager Steve Evans has stripped Greg Halford of the club captaincy in what has been a turbulent couple of weeks for the club, and replaced him with Lee Frecklington. His first game leading the side will be away at surprise package Charlton. The Addicks lost 2-1 at Wolves last time out – their first defeat of the season.

Lee Frecklington

Friday night’s sole fixture sees Reading, fresh from their first win of the campaign – a 3-1 vitory at Brentford – take on Ipswich, who relinquished their unbeaten start to the season against Brighton. Reading will hope to have new loan signing Matej Vydra at their disposal for his debut – however it may be too soon for Teddy Bishop to return to Ipswich’s line-up, as the Tractor Boys aim to keep pace with the early leading clubs.

Two of the sides in drastic need of a kick-start to their season are Preston and Derby. The former, who lost 2-0 to Hull in their last outing, were dealt a sizeable blow this week when talismanic striker Jermain Beckford was ruled out for several months after undergoing knee surgery. His goals fired the Lancashire club to League One promotion last season. Paul Clement’s Derby on the other hand are still waiting for their first win after losing 2-1 at home to Leeds last time out. However, they now have new signings Jacob Butterfield and Bradley Johnson at their disposal after paying around £10m for the ex-Huddersfield and Norwich midfielders.

Jacob Butterfield

Elsewhere in the Championship, Cardiff will be hoping to extend their unbeaten run and make it three wins in a row when they host a Huddersfield side searching for their first three-point haul of the campaign. The Bluebirds won 2-1 away at Nottingham Forest a fortnight ago, and since then Russell Slade has added Belgian under-19 Marco Weymans to his ranks. Huddersfield lost 1-0 at home to QPR last time out and have only three draws to their credit so far.

Championship Matches:
Reading vs Ipswich (Fri)
QPR vs Nottm Forest
Birmingham vs Bristol City
Bolton vs Wolves
Brighton vs Hull
Burnley vs Sheff Wed
Cardiff vs Huddersfield
Charlton vs Rotherham
Leeds vs Brentford
Middlesbrough vs MK Dons
Preston vs Derby
Fulham vs Blackburn (Sun)