Championship Results 2015: Latest Scores, Updated Table and Upcoming Fixtures

The hotly contested race for the Football League Championship title is showing no signs of cooling down as the clubs enter the stretch run of the campaign. There are still a handful of sides with a legitimate chance of claiming the top spot, and the other races are equally intriguing.

Among automatic promotion to the Premier League, making the Championship playoffs and, at the opposite end of the spectrum, the relegation battle, there is no shortage of storylines. It should make for a terrific fight to the finish across the board.

Let's check out how things are shaping up during the course of Matchday 40. The results and table will be updated as the matches go final. That's followed by a recap of some key points of interest from the week's action.

Matchday 40 Fixtures and Results

Day	Home	Road	Result
Friday	Birmingham City	Rotherham United	2-1
Friday	Brighton & Hove Albion	Norwich City	0-1
Friday	Fulham	Brentford	1-4
Friday	Middlesbrough	Wigan Athletic	1-0
Friday	Millwall	Charlton Athletic	2-1
Friday	Nottingham Forest	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1-2
Friday	Ipswich Town	Bournemouth	1-1
Friday	Derby County	Watford	2-2
Saturday	Bolton Wanderers	Blackpool	1-1
Saturday	Leeds United	Blackburn Rovers	0-3
Saturday	Reading	Cardiff City	1-1
Saturday	Sheffield Wednesday	Huddersfield Town	1-1

Updated Championship Table

Rank	Club	GP	W	D	L	GD	PTS
1	Middlesbrough	40	22	9	9	30	75
2	Bournemouth	40	21	11	8	42	74
3	Norwich City	40	21	10	9	34	73
4	Watford	40	22	7	11	32	73
5	Brentford	40	21	6	13	15	69
6	Derby County	40	19	11	10	26	68
7	Ipswich Town	40	19	11	10	16	68
8	Wolverhampton Wanderers	40	19	11	10	26	68
9	Nottingham Forest	40	15	12	13	7	57
10	Blackburn Rovers	40	15	12	13	4	57
11	Charlton Athletic	40	13	15	12	-3	54
12	Sheffield Wednesday	40	13	15	12	-4	54
13	Cardiff City	40	13	13	14	-2	52
14	Leeds United	40	14	10	16	-7	52
15	Birmingham City	39	12	14	13	-11	50
16	Bolton Wanderers	40	12	10	18	-11	46
17	Brighton & Hove Albion	40	10	15	15	-4	45
18	Huddersfield Town	40	11	12	17	-19	45
19	Reading	39	12	9	18	-19	45
20	Fulham	40	12	7	21	-21	43
21	Rotherham United	40	9	13	18	-21	40
22	Millwall	40	8	12	20	-30	36
23	Wigan Athletic	40	8	11	21	-18	35
24	Blackpool	40	4	12	24	-48	24

Week 40 Recap

FA Cup quarter-finalists Blackburn Rovers smashed three goals past Leeds United at Elland Road. In a huge confidence boost ahead of their cup quarter-final replay with Liverpool, Rovers took full advantage of a first-half sending off.

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Goals from Jordan Rhodes, Jay Spearing and Tom Cairney gave Blackburn all three points and left Leeds smarting. Towering striker Rudy Gestede was a consistent menace thanks to his aerial power.

His combination with Rhodes' pace gives Rovers a deadly double act.

Elsewhere, Cup semi-finalists Reading were held at home by Cardiff City. The Welsh club needed a last-minute equaliser from Conor McAleny to cancel out Pavel Pogrebnyak's opener.

McAleny, on loan from Premier League side Everton, pounced to make a mockery of poor defending. But as shaky as the Royals were at the back, they were equally disappointing up front.

Pogrebnyak, fellow striker Jamie Mackey and wingers Garath McCleary and Hal Robson-Kanu, consistently failed to click in forward areas. This squad has too much quality to be languishing at the wrong end of the table.

Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images

It's time for the bigger, more experienced names to start delivering on a regular basis. This tame stalemate is hardly ideal preparation for the cup encounter with Arsenal.

Middlesbrough moved to the top of the table with a hard-fought victory over Wigan. The Latics are fighting to avoid relegation and certainly played like it on the road against a title contender. They came up just short in the end, however, as a lone goal by Patrick Bamford was the difference.

The Boro passed along post-match comments from head coach Aitor Karanka on their official site. He was happy with how his squad responded to an opponent playing with an increased sense of urgency.

"I'm very pleased because every game is very difficult now," Karanka said. "These are the last games, and they are more difficult. I'm pleased because it was a big three points and the team fought very well."

Bournemouth had an opportunity to climb right back to the top of the table. The Cherries could only manage a draw against Ipswich, though. They were lucky to get even the one point as it took a late strike from substitute Kenwyne Jones to get the draw after trailing for most of the game.

The victory keeps them in second place, one of the coveted direct promotion spots. But there is no shortage of competition, which means their overall form, especially in the attacking third, must return to its normal levels the rest of the way.

Sky Sports News highlighted the equalizer:

Brentford is a long shot to capture the title at this stage. They did take another step toward securing a spot in the playoffs with a 4-1 triumph over Fulham. It was actually a close encounter until the Bees struck twice late to get some breathing room.

Stuart Dallas was the driving force for the winning side. The midfielder scored once in each half to spearhead his best performance of the campaign. Thomas McIlroy of Radio Jackie News noted the Northern Irishman's second tally caused the restless home fans to boo the Cottagers:

Watford will close out Friday's action with a chance to move into first place. A win over Derby would give them the same number of points as Middlesbrough with a superior goal differential. But a Rams victory would move them into the top six, so it should be an entertaining match.

Saturday features a quartet of matches. Bolton, Reading and Huddersfield will all attempt to create more space between themselves and the relegation zone with victories. As mentioned, things are beginning to reach a fever pitch in the Championship.