What happened in Saturday's Championship action?
Preston North End 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Preston secured the shock result of the day, beating top of the table Brighton 2-0. The hosts took the lead early on, Paul Huntington heading Paul Gallagher’s free-kick home, with Callum Robinson adding a second moments after half-time. They managed to hold on for the win, moving to within six points on the play-off places.
Brentford 1-2 Newcastle United
Daryl Murphy scored a late winning goal to beat Brentford and send Newcastle to the top of the Championship table. The Magpies took the lead, Dwight Gayle beating the offside trap to net his 20th goal of the season midway through the first half, but Brentford grew into the game after going behind and Lasse Vibe scored a well-deserved equaliser early in the second half. However, with 11 minutes left, Murphy converted Perez’s cross for a vitally important win.
Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Huddersfield Town
Sheffield Wednesday won the Yorkshire derby with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over promotion rivals Huddersfield. Ross Wallace’s 30 yard screamer was all that separated the sides until the dying stages, when Fernando Forestieri added a second. The Terriers were dealt a further in the second half, when Jack Payne was shown a red card for a poor challenge on Sam Hutchinson.
Birmingham City 0-0 Nottingham Forest
A drab game at St Andrew’s end in a 0-0 draw. Birmingham rarely threatened until the arrival of Craig Gardner, whilst Forest themselves failed to record a single shot on target. The result leaves the visitors just three points above the bottom three.
Burton Albion 0-2 Wigan Athletic
Debutant Callum Connolly scored twice to secure Wigan an important win over Burton Albion. A goal in each half from the man on loan from Everton moves the Latics to within just three points of the Brewers – who are just one place above the relegation zone.
Fulham 2-0 Barnsley
Chris Martin scored for Fulham on his return to the team after asking to return to parent club Derby, helping the Cottagers to a 2-0 win over Barnsley. Martin put the hosts ahead on the cusp of half-time from the penalty spot, and Scott Malone converted a Martin cross 10 minutes after the break to double the lead and secure all three points.
Ipswich Town 3-2 Blackburn Rovers
Ipswich went ahead five minutes before the break, Tom Lawrence netting a direct free-kick, but Rovers pulled level just before the half-time whistle via Hope Akpan. Christophe Berra and Lawrence struck in quick succession to put Ipswich back in control shortly after the restart, and although Danny Graham pulled one back with 10 minutes remaining, the hosts held on to claim all three points.
Rotherham United 2-1 Norwich City
Rotherham secured a rare win by defeating Norwich City 2-1. Jerry Yates converted Tom Adeyemi’s cross to put the hosts in front seven minutes in, and things went from bad to worse for Norwich before the 20-minute mark – Nelson Oliveira seeing red after lashing out at an opposition player. However, they fought back to level the tie early in the second half, Cameron Jerome netting, but their joy was short lived with Adeyemi grabbing his second of the day to claim all three points for the Millers.