Leaders making chumps of the championship

THE CHAMPIONSHIP is not supposed to be like this.

A league which prides itself on being tougher than Teflon and as hard to escape as Alcatraz is being made to look dangerously easy by Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City, and there was nothing to suggest in this enthralling summit meeting that both will falter towards the end of the season.

Already, they boast a vast lead over their supposed rivals — although Reading can cut the gap to second-placed Birmingham to four points tonight — and while both sides offer vastly differing styles, they each have the strength in depth and the experience to maintain their charge until May.