Sheffield Wednesday fans will love Barry Bannan's Leeds United promotion verdict amid Ipswich Town battle

Barry Bannan has admitted he would like to see Ipswich Town join Leicester City in the automatic promotion places with Yorkshire rivals Leeds United missing out.

Sheffield Wednesday remain fully focused on the lower end of the Championship table with the relegation battle intensifying week on week. The Owls are currently one point and one place above the drop zone with just two games remaining to secure their fate.

But the incredible battle at the top cannot be ignored with Leeds, Ipswich and Leicester all on course to comfortably top 90 points but only two are set to go up automatically. Ipswich only came up from League One with Wednesday last season and Bannan hopes to see them achieve the unthinkable.

“I would like to see Ipswich go up, obviously with them coming up through League One last season, I think they’ve been unbelievable,” Bannan told talkSPORT. “The three teams that are going for it, no matter who goes up, they all probably deserve it in their own way. It’s amazing for us to watch.”

Leicester look all but up after thumping Southampton 5-0 on Monday evening - a result that also effectively ended the Saints’ automatic promotion hopes - with Enzo Maresca’s side needing just one win from games against Preston North End or Blackburn Rovers to secure an instant return to the Premier League.

That leaves Leeds and Ipswich to battle things out for the second promotion place and Wednesday’s Yorkshire rivals currently occupy second-place, sitting one point above the Tractor Boys having played a game more. Despite struggling at the other end of the table, Wednesday may have had a say on the race, having fought out an impressive 0-0 draw at Leeds back in September.

All focus in South Yorkshire is on the fight to survive, however, and Danny Rohl’s side pulled themselves out of the bottom three after beating fellow strugglers Blackburn Rovers 3-1 on Sunday. An excellent result at Ewood Park made it four unbeaten for the Owls, who look to be hitting form at the perfect time.

The battle to survive is just as intense as for promotion, with seven teams fighting to avoid the two places that will join Rotherham in dropping to League One. Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City currently occupy said spots, but any of Wednesday, Plymouth Argyle, Blackburn, Queens Park Rangers or Stoke City could replace them over the next fortnight.

Wednesday have two tough fixtures remaining and will need to pick up points, with Saturday’s visit of West Brom to Hillsborough followed by the final-day trip to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland. Rohl’s side may take some comfort in knowing the Black Cats will have nothing to play for but play-off football is not yet secured for Carlos Corberan’s Baggies.

The two sides below Wednesday, Huddersfield and Birmingham, meet in a huge game on Saturday with at least one set to drop points. The Terriers then go to promotion hopefuls Ipswich on the final day while Birmingham host play-off chasing Norwich City.