EPL Promotion Watch: Burnley Extend Lead with Win over QPR

The hopes and dreams of Championship clubs in search of a spot in the English Premier League are skyrocketing after close to three months of play in the English second flight. 

The club sitting atop the table after Saturday's slate of nine matches is Burnley, who denied Queens Park Rangers overtaking them for first place, with a 2-0 at Turf Moor. 

Sean Dyche's Clarets became the first club in the second division to reach the 30-point mark with their 10th win of the season. 

However, not everything went right for the league leaders, as their mascot was sent off in the victory over Harry Redknapp's third-placed club. 

QPR, who plummeted down the EPL table last season, sit in third with 27 points, and they have conceded the least amount of goals in the league with six. 

Taking over second in the Championship this weekend were Leicester City, who put in a massive promotion campaign last season, only to fall short at the end. 

The Foxes scored a goal in each half with David Nugent and Jamie Vardy earning the tallies in their 2-1 win over Bournemouth at the King Power Stadium. 

Joining QPR in the four promotion playoff positions are Blackpool, Reading and Nottingham Forest. 

Blackpool played to a 2-2 draw with Blackburn at Bloomfield Road in a match where both clubs saw a player sent off in the final six minutes of the match. 

The match also saw two first-half goals scored from the penalty spot with Thomas Ince scoring in the 13th minute for the Tangerines. 

Reading also played to a home draw on Saturday afternoon as their match with Millwall at the Madejski Stadium ended 1-1. 

The Royals went ahead early through a ninth-minute strike from Sean Morrison, but they could not hold on to their lead against a 10-man Millwall side, who equalized in the 90th minute on a Liam Trotter penalty. 

Nottingham Forest dropped down to sixth place due to a 3-1 road loss to Yeovil Town in which all four goals were scored in the first stanza. 

Here is a look at how the Championship table looks after Saturday's matches. The top two sides at the end of the season will automatically be promoted to the EPL, while the clubs in third through sixth place will compete in a four-team playoff to determine the third promoted side.

Club	Games Played	Points	Goal Differential
Burnley	13	32	+17
Leicester City	13	29	+8
Queens Park Rangers	12	27	+8
Blackpool	13	24	+5
Reading	13	23	+8
Nottingham Forest	13	23	+6

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