Roundup of latest Sky Bet Championship action across matchweeks 28 and 29 of the season.
Burnley entered matchweek 28 looking to continue their march towards automatic promotion in a round which saw one manager sacked, whilst a depleted matchweek 29 saw four fixtures take place due to several teams involved in FA Cup action.
Week 28
Late goals from Nathan Tella and Scott Twine saw Burnley maintain their five-point lead at the top of the Championship with a comeback 2-1 win at home to West Brom, after Darnell Furlong headed the Baggies ahead with a seventh-minute opener.
Daniel Jebbison’s fourth minute strike saw second-placed Sheffield United scrape a 1-0 home win against Hull, as the visitors finished with ten men after Benjamin Tetteh was red carded for a headbutt on Oli McBurnie.
Joao Ferreira cancelled out Shane Ferguson’s 20th minute goal as third-placed Watford fought back to snatch a 1-1 draw against Rotherham at Vicarage Road.
Ten-men Blackburn climbed to fourth with a 1-1 draw at Bristol City as Bradley Dack’s opener was cancelled out by Antoine Semenyo – in Semenyo’s final appearance for the Robins prior to his move to Bournemouth – before Rovers’ Daniel Ayala was red carded for fouling Nakhi Wells.
Kieran Dowell provided a goal and assist as Norwich emerged victorious in a 4-2 thriller at Coventry, which saw David Wagner’s Canaries climb to fifth.
Middlesbrough round out the top six on goal difference, following their Wear-Tees derby defeat at Sunderland as Ross Stewart and Amad Diallo both scored after Boro’s Dael Fry was red carded in the 49th minute.
Down in the relegation zone, Wigan remain rock-bottom after suffering a 2-0 defeat at home to Luton as Harry Cornick and Elijah Adebayo found the net, which led the Latics to sack Kolo Toure as manager and brought in Shaun Maloney as his replacement.
Blackpool and Huddersfield rounded out the bottom three after their meeting at Bloomfield Road was postponed, due to a frozen pitch following a spell of freezing temperatures across the UK.
Cardiff sat three points clear of the relegation zone after suffering a 1-0 defeat at home to Millwall, as Tom Bradshaw struck a 26th minute winner.
Elsewhere, Tyrese Campbell produced an assist and goal as Stoke City thrashed Reading 4-0 at BET365 Stadium, with Will Smallbone, Jacob Brown and Dwight Gayle also on the scoresheet.
Early goals from Ryan Ledson and Alan Browne saw Preston clinch a 2-1 win away at Birmingham City, despite Lukasz Jutkiewicz netting a 83rd minute consolatory goal for the hosts.
Jay Fulton’s late strike cancelled out Jamal Lowe’s opening goal as Swansea battled back to a 1-1 draw at QPR.
Week 29
First-half goals from Chuba Akpom and Marcus Forss saw Middlesbrough defeat play-off rivals, Watford 2-0 at Riverside Stadium, which lifted Boro up to third in the table.
Adebayo’s 88th minute headed winner saw Luton scrape past Cardiff at Kenilworth Road to climb to fourth in the table.
Second-half goals from Gustavo Hamer and Kasey Palmer secured Coventry a 2-0 home win over third-bottom Huddersfield, in a clash which had twice been rearranged after first having been scheduled for matchweek five in August.
Aaron Connolly’s brace plus Rob Dickie’s own goal saw Hull defeat QPR 3-0 at MKM Stadium, which put the Tigers just one point behind the 14th-placed Hoops in the table.
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