Bristol City, Stoke can sustain promotion challenge

With more than half the fixtures completed in The Championship, reshuffles at the top and bottom of the standings will probably continue to take place till the very end.

Yet, two sides that are in the promotion frame and can rightly be considered as dark horses for the top flight slots are Bristol City and Stoke City.

Bristol City only gained promotion to The Championship last year when they finished runners-up to Scunthorpe United in League One.

Under the shrewd guidance of Gary Johnson, the Robins continued with their consistent play despite competing in a higher tier.

Bristol City had been out of the second-grade picture for eight years but Johnson's know-how had prevailed where others failed. Since the third match of the season, City have never been below sixth.

Stoke, with Tony Pulis back at the helm, have also improved over past seasons.

Last term, Stoke finished eighth in the final standings, two positions below the play-offs zone.

It was only on the last day of the campaign that they were denied a place in the deciders by Southampton, who won against Southend and the Potters could only draw at QPR.

Still, that eighth slot was Stoke's best placing since 1996, when they finished fourth.

Last season, Stoke had a tremendous home record. No other side could match their defence as they conceded only 16 goals.

In the January transfer window, Stoke paid a club record fee of £1.28m to sign defender/midfielder Leon Cort from Crystal Palace.

West Brom are up among the favourites to return to the Premier after an absence of two years. Last season, they lost the play-off final to Derby.

Tony Mowbray's Albion will seek to earn a straight up this time round, as champions or runners-up.

Demoted sides

Last season's relegated sides from the Premier, Sheffield United, Charlton Athletic and Watford, have had mixed fortunes to date.

While Watford and Charlton still have a chance to bounce back, Sheffield United are in the lower half of the classification.

The Valiants and the Hornets have held on to their managers, Alan Pardew and Adrian Boothroyd, respectively. Yet, the Blades sacked Neil Warnock and replaced him with Bryan Robson (ex-West Brom).

Robson has gone down in Premier League history as the only manager to plot an escape for a club (WBA) that was in the drop zone at Christmas (in 2004-05) but fought on to retain their status in May.

The three promoted sides from League One are led by Bristol City as already mentioned. Blackpool are in the lower half of the standings and Scunthorpe are rubbing shoulders with the strugglers.

A number of other clubs have high hopes of winning promotion, at least through the play-offs. Yet, the likes of Preston, Norwich and Leicester are struggling for survival. There are still many matches left to play though and things can easily change for the promotion and relegation contenders.

Ipswich Town, managed by Jim Magilton, can rejoin the race for a place in the Premier but only if they address their poor away record.

Ipswich are the only side in The Championship not to suffer a home defeat but on the away front they are still without a win.

Plymouth can also be regarded as potential challengers after their positive performances of late.

Ian Sturrock returned to Home Park as boss after the resignation of Ian Holloway in November and things are looking brighter now for the Pilgrims.

Plymouth would indeed be more than glad if this season's journey leads them to the Holy Grail and reach the Premier League for the first time in their history.

Wolves remain an enigma and their fans have been flabbergasted for many a season particularly when the team earned promotion to the Premiership via the play-offs but were relegated the year that followed.

The supporters appear to be glad with Mick McCarthy as manager but he is often linked with a job elsewhere.

The latest connection is for him to take over the Republic of Ireland side once again.

Michael Mifsud is enjoying life at Coventry and his exploits in the cups have seen him being mentioned freely in the UK tabloids, particularly following his feats against Manchester United, in the League Cup, and Blackburn, in the FA Cup.

Coventry won these two cup ties away from their Ricoh Arena.

Yet, the side managed by Iain Dowie needs to be strengthened for the Sky Blues to climb to safer waters in the league standings.

A mid-table placing is surely not pleasing Southampton who have now been out of the top flight for three years. After finishing 12th in the campaign that followed their relegation, they did well last term to qualifying for the deciders.

George Burley, having left Hearts to take over at St Mary's Stadium, could face the sack if results do not improve. He is also in the running to become Scotland manager.