The Sky Bet Championship season is fast approaching its crunch-point with top two Leeds and West Brom within touching distance of promotion and as many as eight teams battling relegation.

By Thursday evening, the picture could be significantly clearer after the 44th round of fixtures.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the major midweek talking points.

Elland back?

Victory for leaders Leeds over bottom-of-the-table Barnsley at Elland Road on Thursday night would secure their return to the top flight should third-placed Brentford fail to beat Preston 24 hours earlier. Even victory for the Bees would give them a purely notional chance of overhauling Marcelo Bielsa's men on goal difference. Leeds' 16-year absence from the Premier League has included three seasons in League One, and their 2001 Champions League semi-final showdown with Valencia seems a distant memory.

Top of the form

Only two play-off places remain up for grabs with Leeds, West Brom, Brentford and Fulham already assured of top-six finishes regardless of what happens during what remains of the campaign. Fifth-placed Forest would join them on Wednesday evening with a home win over Swansea, one of seven sides covered by a spread of just four points from Cardiff in sixth down to Blackburn in 12th.

Black clouds over Yorkshire

The traditional Yorkshire Ridings has been represented consistently over the history of the Premier League, but no fewer than four former top-flight clubs situated within its boundaries are in danger of slipping into League One over the next fortnight. Barnsley have slipped to the foot of the table, while Hull, who travel to Wigan on Tuesday, have joined them in the bottom three with Huddersfield and Middlesbrough, who go to Sheffield Wednesday and Reading respectively the same evening, just two points clear of the bottom three.

Nathan Jones had been gone too long

Eyebrows were raised when Nathan Jones returned as Luton manager on his 47th birthday in May after a difficult 16 months in charge at Stoke. With nine games remaining, the Hatters were deep in relegation trouble, but under his charge, they have won two and drawn three of the six they have played since to lift themselves from the foot of the table and to within two points of safety. A home victory over QPR on Tuesday evening could conceivably ease them out of the bottom three with a trip to Hull and a final-day clash with Blackburn to come.