Jay Tabb sees the promotion picture in the Championship as anything but clear and believes it could become even more blurred during the remainder of the campaign.

The current top eight are separated by a mere eight points and with each of the sides having 21 games left to play there is plenty of scope for yet more contenders to emerge from the pack.

Tabb has experience of that precise scenario with previous club Reading, recalling how three seasons ago the Royals came from nowhere to not only secure promotion but also carry off the league title.

He said: “At this stage of the season in 2012 Reading had just lost to Stevenage in the FA Cup and we were 13th in the league. If we’re honest we were looking below us rather than above us.

“All of a sudden we just went on a crazy run and won 17 of our last 19 games, which is usually unheard of.

“We weren’t up there until right near the end. I think we went top with two games to go and went on to win the league, whereas this season we have been up there for a good few weeks and we’re there to be shot at.

“There’s not a lot in it as things stand. Norwich have got a new manager and they will probably find some extra momentum through to the end of the season, so they are a danger, and there’s always a couple of teams who get on a run and come from nowhere.

“You can go down as far as twelfth because any team getting three wins on the bounce could be knocking on the door to the play-offs.

“Sheffield Wednesday have just done it and they’re up to ninth. I can see it remaining very tight through to the end of the season.”

Town ended an 11-game unbeaten league run with defeat at home to Derby last weekend but later in the day arch-rivals Norwich did them a favour by winning at leaders Bournemouth, who remain just one point ahead of Mick McCarthy’s third-placed side.

Tabb added: “The closer you get to the end of the season you find that when you slip up others slip up as well. You think to yourself ‘If we had beaten Derby we’d be on top now and five points clear of them’.

"There will be lots more ‘what ifs’ but we’re in a good position, one point off the top, and if we beat Millwall on Saturday we could find ourselves top.”

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