Ipswich looking good but Foxes look doomed - Aaron McLean's EFL takeaways

Former Peterborough United and Hull City striker and Final Score pundit Aaron McLean gives his five takeaways from across the Championship, League One and League Two after an enthralling day of EFL action.

Ipswich Town have opened up a lead over Millwall and Middlesbrough in the race for the Championship's second automatic promotion place, and Kieran McKenna's Tractor Boys have games in hand.

McLean: "I must say I believed Ipswich would finish second. I think in terms of who was going to win it, it was always going to come down to the head-to-head between Coventry and Middlesbrough, and Coventry winning in such convincing fashion kicked them on and almost dismantled Middlesbrough's season.

"So I think what you're seeing now is Ipswich being the most consistent team, and they have games in hand on Middlesbrough and Millwall in the race for second place.

"From their past nine games, they have six wins and three draws. Middlesbrough, by comparison, have gone six games without a win.

"Middlesbrough, even with all the possession they had against one of the bottom teams, they're not clinical like they were earlier in the season.

"Millwall and Hull have dropped off a bit, but just being in and around the play-offs and being talked about as a team that could have gone on and got automatic promotion, is still a huge positive.

"They're going to get little bumps in the road and it's about how they react, and I expect both of them to bounce back."

Sheffield Wednesday gained their first clean sheet in 20 games with a draw at champions-elect Coventry.

McLean: "Coventry would have been promoted if they had beaten Sheffield Wednesday, so full credit to Wednesday for getting a draw.

"I've said it for a long time - even though they have been relegated in record-fast time and have a minus points tally, at no point have I looked at them and thought, 'They've downed tools.'

"Every game they've gone into, they've given everything. Yes, they lack the quality of a lot of other teams, but that's because their squad was so depleted before a ball was even kicked, and in terms of bringing players in, they were young players on loan.

"But what they do have is they've gone out and given everything they have for the fans, and their fine draw at Coventry was a reward for that attitude.

"I just hope the club can get to a position where they're on an even keel again and I hope Henrik Pedersen is still managing them.

"He was been unrelenting in his positive attitude and I think he deserves to have an opportunity to show what he can do as a manager when things off the pitch are better."

Leicester are on course for a second successive relegation, with the Foxes four points below the Championship survival line.

McLean: "I don't see Leicester staying up and I've been thinking that for a long time.

"I don't think their players have got the stomach for a relegation fight. I know they've had a six-point deduction and there are a lot of things wrong, but when I look at their squad, there's no way they should only have one win in 16 games.

"That's an application thing and it's down to the players. The players haven't performed anywhere near the level they should have.

"We've seen teams like Blackburn win the Premier League and drop down to the third tier, but not as quickly as Leicester are [going to]. It's only a decade since they were Premier League champions.

"I think as well as being really mismanaged off the pitch, the Leicester players have not done themselves justice and I think they have let the fans down."

Cardiff have opened up a 10-point lead over third-placed Bradford City after beating Bolton Wanderers 2-0, and are red-hot favourites to get automatic promotion up from League One with Lincoln City.

McLean: "Today was a massive result for Cardiff. They'd had a little wobble, only winning two from eight before beating Bolton, and that was a massive scalp for them.

"I expect them now to get the job done. They've got a big enough cushion over Bradford and the games are running out. I expect them to get it done soon.

"Lincoln have gone on the run they have - 25 league games unbeaten with 20 wins – and that's almost a freak of nature. They've been near enough perfect.

"But from Cardiff's point of view, as long as you get promoted, come the summer, that's all that matters.

"Cardiff are a big club and they're almost too big to be in League One. It's almost unfair on the other League One clubs when you look and see they're there. I think they all want to see Cardiff out of their league as soon as possible."

Bromley's defeat at MK Dons was only their second in 25 games, while Cambridge United beat Notts County to move up to third in League Two.

McLean: "I wasn't really expecting Bromley to win today, even though they would have been promoted, because they were at MK Dons and their away form hasn't been as good as their superb home form.

"They were playing away against an MK Dons side who, really when you look at squad and money spent, they should be winning the league.

"So for Bromley, I don't think they should worry too much that they weren't able to win, and I expect them to go up, especially because they are unbeaten at home - the only unbeaten side at home in the top four leagues.

"After them and MK Dons, you look at Cambridge, who had a brilliant win against Notts County and have leapfrogged them into third in the table.

"They've got the best home record in League Two, and manager Neil Harris believes they're good enough to go and finish at least second in the division, and I agree with him. MK Dons will have something to say about that and those three will finish top three for me."

Aaron McLean was speaking to BBC Sport England's David Anderson.