The Championship is approaching the home straight in what is most competitive title race the second tier has seen in years.
There are just eight matches remaining with four teams vying for the two automatic promotion spots with the Promised Land of the Premier League in their sights.
Whichever teams prevail then they will be bolstered by eye-watering wealth with every promoted side to rake in more than £170million over three seasons, regardless of whether they immediately return to the EFL.
If clubs can go up and stay up, that figure could be in excess of £290million.
Here, talkSPORT.com takes a look at the most exciting Championship title race in recent memory.
BATTLE FOR TOP SPOT
So often we’ve seen the three teams relegated from the Premier League enduring mixed fortunes in the Championship.
Some sail through the 46-game season and go up automatically while others struggle to adapt to the physical demands and financial landscape of the EFL, ending their first season back with a flounder.
Leeds, Leicester and Southampton suffered the drop in 2022/23 with all three taking to the Championship like a duck to water.
All three cut their cloth accordingly, selling big-name stars for big money – Jack Harrison, James Maddison, James Ward-Prowse and Romeo Lavia to new just a few – while the trio also all named new head coaches who were deemed ready to see them back to the Premier League at the first try.
The fourth contender couldn’t be more different, with Ipswich on the steepest of uphill trajectories having only secured promotion from League One last term.
SURPRISE PACKAGES AND BIG BLIPS
EFL experts tipped Kieran McKenna’s side to adapt to the second tier pretty well, but few expected to be in the promotion picture as we roll into late March.
Leicester looked uncatchable in mid-February but a 2-1 defeat to Middlesbrough sent Enzo Maresca’s side on a run of just one win in five to allow Daniel Farke’s side to overtake them, albeit having played a game more.
Speaking on talkSPORT 2’s The EFL Show, Derby County’s Conor Hourihane said: “The top four have gone storming ahead over the course of the season.
“Five, six, seven, eight games ago Leicester were flying high and it was only a matter of time until they got promoted, but all of a sudden they’ve hit a bit of a dip.
“Every team is going to have a dip over 46 games and over an EFL season it’s so hard to stay that consistent.
“Everyone has two losses in a row or three losses in a row but it’s how quickly you can come out of that – Leicester had two or three losses and everyone thought they would be fine but that run has turned into five or six games and the teams behind them have hit really good form and closed that gap.
“It’s been a bit of a surprise because they looked that strong and that convincing and for them to be second now is a big surprise.”
Ipswich have been loving life as they look to secure a second-straight promotion[/caption]
Ipswich were in cruise control during the first half of the season, but endured a blip of their own from mid-December to February with a torrid run of just one victory in nine league matches.
Many expected the Tractorboys to fall away from recently-relegated trio, however a run of seven wins from their last eight and scoring 26 goals in the process has meant they deservedly remain in the battle for the Premier League.
“Ipswich have done incredibly well,” Hourihane said.
“I played against them last year in League One and they were a really good side, but for them to be alongside Southampton, Leeds and Leicester is credit to them.
“To have a huge shout of going up automatically is a huge job that they’ve done and their manager has been unbelievable as well.
FOUR-HORSE RACE
“It looks like a bit of a three-horse race for the automatics, but Southampton have a game in hand so if they win that they might have a sneaky chance if they go on a strong run.
Championship top 4 – remaining fixtures
Championship top 4 – remaining fixtures
Leeds: Watford (A), Hull (H), Coventry (A), Sunderland (H), Blackburn (H), Middlesbrough (A), QPR (A), Southampton (H).
Leicester: Bristol City (A), Norwich (H), Birmingham (H), Millwall (A), Plymouth (A), West Brom (H), Southampton (H), Preston (A), Blackburn (H).
Ipswich: Blackburn (A), Southampton (H), Norwich (A), Watford (H), Middlesbrough (H), Coventry (A), Hull (A), Huddersfield (H).
Southampton: Middlesbrough (H), Ipswich (A), Blackburn (A), Coventry (H), Watford (H), Preston (H), Cardiff (A), Leicester (A), Stoke (H), Leeds (A)
“It’s going to be a really interesting one.”
So who will prosper in the hunt for automatic promotion?
“I think Leeds look really strong at the minute,” said Hourihane. “They certainly look like the strongest of the four teams up there at the minute and they’re coming good at a really good time.
“Elland Road is rocking and it’s a really hard place to go.
“I do think with the quality that Leicester have they’ll regroup and come strong again.”