Yet the top two in England's second tier look increasingly likely to be the pair promoted to the Premier League, with third-placed Fulham suffering a damaging home defeat against Brentford.
In the first matches following the league's three-month coronavirus suspension, a new hero emerged for mid-table Derby County as 18-year-old Louie Sibley scored a hat-trick in their win at Millwall.
And Rhian Brewster, a striker on loan from Liverpool, gave Swansea City's play-off hopes a boost by netting twice at Middlesbrough, as well as making a powerful political statement.
POINT A MIXED BLESSING FOR BAGGIES
With Leeds in action at Cardiff City on Sunday, West Brom had an opportunity to go two points clear of Marcelo Bielsa's team as the league resumed.
Bilic's players dominated the derby clash and had a host of chances but could not find a breakthrough, and a stalemate at the Hawthorns potentially plays into the hands of Leeds.
The top two are now level on points, with West Brom top on goal difference, but Leeds will have the chance to go three clear before the next round of games.
BEES STING NEIGHBOURS
Said Benrahma and Emiliano Marcondes scored late for Brentford in a 2-0 win at promotion rivals Fulham, a result that leaves West Brom and Leeds seven points clear with eight games remaining for the play-off pack.
Nottingham Forest were heading for victory at Sheffield Wednesday after Joe Lolley gave the visitors a 69th-minute lead, only for Connor Wickham to grab a stoppage-time leveller for the Owls.
Forest sit fifth, four points clear of a Preston North End side who were held 1-1 at Luton Town, Callum McManaman firing a late equaliser for the hosts, who nevertheless fell to the foot of the table.
KING LOUIE
Blackburn Rovers beat Bristol City 3-1 in a battle between teams fighting with Preston for sixth place, but the individual performance of the day came from Sibley, whose heroics guided Derby to their 3-2 win at Millwall.
"I'm absolutely buzzing," Sibley told Rams TV. "To get that hat-trick was just unbelievable. When the third goal went in, I couldn't stop smiling."
Brewster was not far behind, his double steering Swansea to a 3-0 victory at lowly Middlesbrough.
Brewster held up a shirt that read "our colour is not a crime" after his first goal, expressing support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
TIGERS ON THE SLIDE
Wigan Athletic were 2-0 winners at fellow strugglers Huddersfield Town, while Hull City slipped into the bottom three after losing 1-0 at home against Charlton Athletic.
Barnsley climbed off the bottom by winning 1-0 at QPR, and Stoke City drew 1-1 at Reading.
A total of 1,030 players and staff members from England's second tier were tested over the course of a 72-hour period between Monday and Wednesday.
The results were announced on Thursday, with the three positive tests coming from two clubs.
Fulham confirmed two of the positive tests were from their players, who will now self-isolate as per EFL regulations.
"After the second round of league-wide testing for COVID-19 completed by Fulham FC players and staff this week at the club's training facility, we can confirm that two players have tested positive for Coronavirus," read a club statement.
"Both players, who shall remain unnamed due to medical confidentiality, are now self-isolating in line with league and government guidance."
Hull City, who had the only two positive cases in the previous round of testing, confirmed they did not have any this time around.
"Hull City can confirm that none of its players or staff are included in the three new positive results," the Tigers said.
"The two individuals who tested positive in the first round of testing last week continue to self-isolate at home as per government and EFL guidelines."
Only players who have tested negative are permitted to enter training grounds.
Championship football remains on hold due to the pandemic and no fixtures have been played in the 2019-20 season since March 8.
The English Football League (EFL) on Sunday said there were two positive cases out of the 1,014 COVID-19 tests taken by players and staff at Championship clubs.
Hull later announced both individuals, who have not been named, came from the struggling East Yorkshire club and will self-isolate for a week before being tested for a second time.
A club statement said: "Hull City can confirm that two people have tested positive for COVID-19 following the first round of testing at the training ground.
"Medical confidentiality means the names will not be disclosed, and the club asks for this to be respected.
"The duo, who are both asymptomatic and feeling no ill effects, will now self-isolate for seven days – in line with the protocols set out in EFL guidelines – before being tested again at a later date.
"The club will continue to liaise closely with the affected personnel and will make no further comment."
According to the Daily Telegraph, Hull have written to EFL chairman Rick Parry and the other 23 clubs in the Championship to express fears over the season potentially resuming next month.
Championship teams are preparing to resume training from Monday, albeit while following specific protocols laid down by league organisers.
It is unclear if the Championship campaign will resume. No fixtures have been played since March 8, with Hull reportedly the first second-tier club to outline a belief that it is too risky to get the action under way again.
Smith’s men reeled through seven straight defeats earlier this season including a 40-0 derby humbling by neighbours Hull KR, but looked unrecognisable as they surged out to sink the leaders.
Early tries from Darnell McIntosh and Jake Clifford – who would score 10 of his side’s points in their eventual 14-10 win – set the tone before a thrilling rearguard action saw Smith’s side over the line.
Smith said: “I am so happy for the players. We lost seven straight and you could get down and disgruntled and get a defeatist attitude, and they haven’t.
“They’ve been really positive and we kept saying during that time that we wouldn’t be moping around and feeling sorry for ourselves. We just needed to graft through it and get more determined.”
The table now makes distinctly brighter reading for Smith’s men, who had stopped the rot with a win over Huddersfield prior to the international break, but they head to rock-bottom Wakefield next week knowing there is much more to do.
“We’ve got a lot of improvements still to make in order to get more results,” Smith added. “We were average in the second half, we still made errors but they did not hurt us much as they have in other games.
“We’ve got some big matches ahead of us and it’s important that we are in the right frame of mind.”
Wigan head coach Matt Peet admitted his side were second best for long periods of the first half, and were punished by Hull’s energy and determination.
“Some of our defence wasn’t where it needed to be in the first half and on the whole we amended that in the second half, but execution is what prevented us getting the win,” said Peet.
Wigan looked limp for much of the opening period but Iain Thornley’s try on the stroke of half-time gave them hope, and his second straight after the interval set up a grandstand finish.
“Hull were full of energy and they were motivated. They were flying off the line, they were covering each other and they were diving on loose balls,” added Peet.
“For us there’ll be a lot of what-ifs and if-onlys. It’s about handling the pressure in those big moments. We’ve got to learn and improve and develop, but I won’t be stressing too much.”
Peet reserved particular praise for Thornley, whose double marked his first appearance of the season after a long battle to shake off a knee injury.
“I thought he was excellent,” added Peet. “His desire was evident, I loved the way he carried the ball. He worked so hard and I’m so pleased to see him get a performance like that under his belt.”
