Roundup of latest Sky Bet Championship action as the race for promotion took further twists.
A dramatic weekend saw three of the top four fail to taste victory as the race for the second automatic promotion spot took a big twist, before a midweek pair of rescheduled fixtures blew that particular scrap wide open as a fourth contender came into sharp contention.
Weekend
League leaders, Coventry missed their chance to secure automatic promotion at the first time of asking as they were held to a goalless draw by relegated Sheffield Wednesday at the CBS Arena.
Jaden Philogene’s penalty and George Hirst’s finish saw Ipswich stay second with a 2-0 victory at Norwich, which saw them do the league double over their East Anglian rivals for the first time since 1992-93 season.
Millwall climbed to third after they were held to a goalless draw at 20th-placed West Bromwich Albion.
Middlesbrough’s automatic promotion dreams were dented as they slipped to fourth with a shock 1-0 defeat at home to fourth-bottom Portsmouth, in which Conor Chaplin netted a 97th-minute winner for the visitors.
Second-half goals from Leo Scienza and Taylor Harwood-Bellis saw Southampton come from behind to go fifth with a 2-1 win at home over Derby County, after Carlton Morris fired the Rams ahead in the 38th minute.
Hull rounded out the top six as they fell to a surprise 2-1 loss at Sheffield United through late goals from Gustavo Hamer and Danny Ings, after Oli McBurnie had put the Tigers ahead against his former team before his fellow ex Blade – John Lundstrum was red carded in the 75th minute.
Down in the relegation zone, Leicester suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Swansea as Zan Vipotnik netted a 53rd-minute winner in his first appearance since he was nominated for Championship Player of the Season at the EFL Awards.
The Foxes’ defeat saw them slip to second-bottom after Oxford United climbed above them into third-bottom with a 2-0 home win over Watford, as Myles Peart-Harris and Mark Harris netted for the Us in a crucial victory at the Kassam Stadium.
19th-placed Blackburn sat four points above the drop after they played out a 1-1 draw at ten-men Stoke, having led through Adam Forshaw before Yuki Ribeiro’s own-goal gifted the Potters a point despite Ashley Phillips’ late red card.
Elsewhere, Brad Potts netted a 65th-minute winner from Lewis Dobbin’s pass for Preston in a 2-1 comeback victory at Charlton after he initially set up their equalising header from Dobbin, after Joe Rankin-Costello put the Addicks into an 18th-minute lead.
Carlos Vicente’s header and Christoph Klarer’s finish saw Birmingham City end their three-match losing streak with a 2-0 win at home over Wrexham.
QPR played out a goalless draw at home to Bristol City.
Midweek
Ipswich missed a chance to move five points clear of third-placed Millwall as they fell to a shock 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth, as Connor Shaughnessy and Colby Bishop struck in the space of two first-half minutes for the hosts.
Southampton surged up to fourth with a ruthless 3-0 victory at home against Blackburn, as Cyle Larin opened the scoring, before Cameron Archer set up Ryan Manning for their second goal then completed the result with their third goal himself.
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