Jack Rudoni’s goal four minutes into second-half stoppage time gave leaders Coventry their fourth win in a row with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Stoke.
Haji Wright headed them ahead before Ben Gibson equalised on the stroke of half-time with what proved to be Stoke’s only shot on target. Rudoni capitalised on an error from the onrushing Tommy Simkin in added time to put Coventry eight points clear of second-placed Middlesbrough, who travel to Birmingham on Monday. The last-gasp defeat meant Stoke, managed by former Coventry manager Mark Robins, have just one win in their last nine matches.
Ryan Leonard’s stunning first-half strike helped Millwall edge past Preston 2-0 in a game of attrition at Deepdale. The 33-year-old right-back scored his first Championship goal of the season with a delightful curling strike in the 29th minute and substitute Luke Cundle sealed the win in second-half stoppage time.
Quick GuideLeague One: Cardiff demolish Doncaster
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Cardiff put their League One promotion drive back on track with a convincing 4-0 win at Doncaster. The Bluebirds – thumped 5-2 at Plymouth last weekend – took a first-half lead through Robertson, with Dylan Lawlor on target soon after the restart before Cian Ashford added a third and Callum Robinson wrapped things up in stoppage time.
Lincoln kept themselves a point behind top spot with a 4-0 over Blackpool. Conor McGrandle’s header gave the Imps a first-half lead, with Rob Street, Dom Jefferies and then substitute Ryan One all scoring in the final 12 minutes.
Third-placed Bolton cruised to a 5-1 win at Exeter, extending their unbeaten run to 10 league games. Sam Dalby set the visitors on their way, with Johnny Kenny, Thierry Gale, substitute Ibrahim Sissoko and George Johnston all on target in the second half.
Improving Stevenage closed up on the top six with a 2-1 win over play-off hopefuls Stockport. Adama Sidibeh gave County the lead, but Carl Piergianni and Matt Phillips completed the turnaround. Reading scored twice late on to come from behind and beat Bradford 2-1 at the Select Car Leasing Stadium. Matthew Pennington had put the visitors in front, but Paddy Lane equalised in the 90th minute before Matt Ritchie headed home a dramatic winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Huddersfield also lost ground as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at relegation-battlers Wigan, with Jensen Weir’s 61st-minute goal proving decisive. David McGoldrick scored a hat-trick as Barnsley won 3-1 at relegation battlers Leyton Orient and it finished 1-1 between rivals Northampton and Peterborough at Sixfields.
Rotherham boosted their survival hopes as an early goal from Joe Rafferty secured a 1-0 win over Plymouth, while bottom side Port Vale battled to a 1-1 draw against Luton. Mansfield drew 2-2 against Wimbledon, with Jonathan Russell scoring twice, and Wycombe saw off Burton 3-0. PA Media
It is a result that keeps Alex Neil’s team well in contention for an automatic promotion spot while also pouring more cold water on the club he used to manage, as the Lilywhites’ play-off ambitions fade further away.
Ipswich maintained their challenge for automatic promotion as they confidently defeated Swansea 3-0 at Portman Road. Man-of-the-match Anis Mehmeti gave them the lead with just three minutes on the clock. Ivan Azon added the second in the 41st minute with an acute effort and substitute George Hirst added the gloss with 16 minutes remaining. The result moved the Tractor Boys to within three points of Middlesbrough with a game in hand.
Hull’s manager, Sergej Jakirovic, said he wants to enjoy his side’s promotion push more after their smash-and-grab 1-0 win at Portsmouth. The Tigers only managed two shots and relied on Adrian Segicic’s double error for Matt Crooks to score the only goal at Fratton Park, leaving them fifth in the table.
Jakirovic said: “We didn’t play our game or our style because it was very demanding. I don’t know the reason but in some parts of the game we lacked energy. We have shown this season that we can win without playing well. I would like us to play much better but it wasn’t on me, it was on the players. There are 12 games to go and we are there. We will push but I would like to enjoy it more.”
Hull have won five games in a row on the road for the first time since 1966 – with their last defeat away from the MKM Stadium coming on 23 November. Jakirovic said: “I was born in 1976, so the record is very old! I am shocked. I didn’t know about the record.”
Quick GuideLeague Two: Bromley stretch lead at top
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Bromley extended their advantage at the top to four points with a 2-1 win over 10-man Accrington. The visitors had Donald Love sent off after only 14 minutes after appearing to stamp on Michael Cheek, who broke the deadlock from the penalty spot just before the break. Dave Abimbola had Stanley level in first-half stoppage time, but another spot-kick from Cheek then got Bromley home as they made it 16 league games unbeaten.
Cambridge saw two points slip away after MK Dons snatched a 1-1 draw at Abbey Stadium through a stoppage-time penalty from Aaron Collins to cancel out Shayne Lavery’s goal with 15 minutes left. Swindon also had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Bristol Rovers, and Notts County slipped to a 1-0 home defeat against Grimsby – with Lee Ndlovu having been sent off before Charles Vernam’s late strike.
Josh March’s stoppage-time goal snatched Crewe a 2-1 win over Tranmere and Salford won 1-0 at Colchester. Priestley Farquharson struck twice as play-off hopefuls Walsall won 2-1 at Shrewsbury, who had Josh Ruffels sent off in added time. Robbie McKenzie’s goal deep into stoppage time gave Gillingham a 1-0 win at Barrow, bottom side Newport battled to a goalless draw at Fleetwood, Jack Stevens’ double saw Oldham beat Crawley 2-0 and Barnet beat Chesterfield 1-0. PA Media
Phil Parkinson praised the tenacity of his Wrexham side as they maintained their fine away record in the Championship with a 1-0 success at Charlton. The Red Dragons have taken 16 points from a possible 18 on the road to help fuel their hopes of a fourth successive promotion. Oliver Rathbone, who signed a contract extension until the summer of 2028 earlier this week, scored the 30th-minute winner.
But Wrexham, sixth in the league, had to withstand heavy pressure from the home team and goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo produced heroics to deny Sonny Carey a late leveller. Parkinson, now gearing up to face Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round next Saturday, said: “We showed incredible resilience today to get the win. The way we defended the box today was exceptional.”
Seventh-placed Southampton’s good run of form continued as they beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at Hillsborough. The League One-bound hosts showed spirit to keep themselves in the game but ultimately, the Saints’ quality proved too much to handle. They were undefeated in eight in all competitions before coming into this one and knew three points were a must to keep the pressure on Wrexham.
Sheffield United maintained their slim hopes of snatching a playoff place with a 2-0 win at QPR. First-half goals from Callum O’Hare and Tyrese Campbell secured the victory against injury-hit Rangers, who have lost three of their last four home matches and were second-best throughout. The west London side, thrashed 5-0 at Southampton in midweek, were again punished for some woeful defending.
At the other end of the table, Gary Rowett told his Leicester players to show more fight and physicality if they are to avoid dropping out of the Championship.
Second-half goals from Anis Ben Slimane and Ali Ahmed gave Norwich a 2-0 win at the King Power Stadium and kept the Foxes in the relegation zone with 11 matches of the season remaining. Leicester have won just once in the league in 2026 – against fellow strugglers West Brom on 5 January – and Rowett’s first home game in charge could not inspire them to victory.
Rowett had inspired some confidence by starting his tenure with back-to-back draws on the road at Stoke and promotion-chasing Middlesbrough, but his first home match was preceded by a small protest from fans and ended with a chorus of boos.
“Today, it just felt flat from the start, if I’m being honest, it was really disappointing,” said Rowett. “As a group, as a team, as a club we’ve got a fight to get out of it. We’ve got good players, but there’s no point having good players if we don’t do the basics of the game. There has to be a physical element in the games in order to win them. Today, we lacked a little bit of physicality, I thought, and athleticism.”
Elsewhere at the bottom, Oxford scored twice from set pieces in the first half as they beat managerless West Brom 2-1 in a tense relegation clash at the Kassam Stadium. Stan Mills headed them in front in the 14th minute from Jamie Donley’s corner, arching back to guide the ball beautifully into the top-left corner.
That was Oxford’s first goal at home in more than nine hours – since Boxing Day – and they added another 12 minutes later when Will Lankshear nodded in a Cameron Brannagan free-kick from six yards which goalkeeper Max O’Leary maybe should have come for. Substitute Ollie Bostock pulled a goal back for Albion after 33 minutes with a 25-yard shot that took a big deflection off Sam Long.
And Michael O’Neill called on his Blackburn team to be more “durable” after they were beaten 3-1 at Derby. Rovers, in 20th, were well placed at half-time through Hayden Carter’s header but the game turned on a miss by Andri Gudjohnsen early in the second half and Derby took advantage. The former Blackburn forward Ben Brereton Díaz slammed in a 55th-minute equaliser and, after Matt Clarke punished tentative defending in the 74th minute, Rhian Brewster sealed victory with an 82nd-minute header.
O’Neill said: “The squad is not strong and we don’t have depth and at times the team that finishes the game is not as strong as the team that starts the game. We are going to need some players back and we are going to need some resilience in the current group too.”
On Friday, Jeremy Ngakia’s 77th-minute strike secured a 2-1 win for Watford over Bristol City at Ashton Gate. The visitors took a seventh-minute lead when Luca Kjerrumgaard fired home from six yards. But the home side were level in the 36th minute when Scott Twine powered a close-range header past Egil Selvik. A draw looked the likely outcome, but Ngakia found the top corner with a sweetly struck right-foot shot from 25 yards out.
