Middlesbrough defeated Queens Park Rangers 4-0 on Sunday, strengthening their lead in the fight for automatic promotion from the Championship.

David Strelec, Alan Browne, Hayden Hackney, and Tommy Conway scored for the visitors, who now lead Millwall by four points.

Boro experienced a minor setback in February when they failed to win three consecutive Championship games, but Kim Hellberg’s side has recovered strongly in March.

Coventry City stay in contention for the Championship crown after defeating Bristol City on Saturday.

Frank Lampard’s team appeared to be suffering at the start of the year, but five straight league wins have helped them get back on track.

Supercomputer maintains faith in the top two

This season’s close proximity to the Championship top six implies that any outcome is still possible.

Millwall is only one point clear of Ipswich Town in third place, and Wrexham is only three points away from the play-offs in sixth.

On Thursday, the EFL announced plans to add two Championship play-off positions beginning next season.

A season ago, Southampton, Watford, and Bristol would have thought they still had a good chance of making it.

As it stands, Opta’s supercomputer has picked Wrexham to make the play-offs with a 61.80 percent likelihood, with Southampton’s 36.62 percent the most serious threat.

Coventry and Middlesbrough have been backed to gain automatic promotion to the Premier League, with the former at 97.50 percent and the latter at 62.36 percent.

Ipswich could still have a say, with the Tractor Boys given a 26.16 percent chance of regaining second position.

Middlesbrough faces important upcoming games.

Sunday’s victory would have come as a blow to the chasing pack, who had wanted to see Middlesbrough struggle under pressure.

Instead, Hellberg’s team appeared cool, calm, and collected as they trounced their opponent and went away as worthy champions.

However, the pressure will rapidly return when Boro visit Millwall at the beginning of next month, followed by a trip to Ipswich.

The race for promotion to the Premier League remains wide open, and now is not the time for complacency.