A review of Saturday's action in the Sky Bet Championship, where West Brom dropped points while Brentford secured another victory.
Results
Blackburn 1-1 West Brom
Automatic promotion-chasing West Brom had to settle for a point at Blackburn after substitute Joe Rothwell’s strike earned the hosts a 1-1 draw.
Albion took a deserved lead in the 41st minute through a finish from Filip Krovinovic, who then struck a post early in the second half as he followed up a parried effort by the impressive Matheus Pereira.
But Rovers notched a 63rd-minute equaliser when Rothwell slotted home from Sam Gallagher’s pass, two minutes after both players had come on.
It then took a fine save by Sam Johnstone to deny another Blackburn substitute, Jacob Davenport, and the hosts went close again soon after as Kyle Bartley made a goal-line clearance.
The Baggies remain second in the Championship table, level on points with leaders Leeds – who play at Swansea on Sunday – and three points clear of third-placed Brentford with three games to go.
Blackburn are 12th, outside the play-off places by four points.
Derby 1-3 Brentford
Brentford guaranteed at least a place in the play-offs and stayed in the hunt for automatic promotion with a 3-1 win at Derby, who suffered a blow to their top six hopes.
Ollie Watkins scored his 24th goal of the season to give Brentford an early lead but Derby hit back strongly to level through Jason Knight, only for a Ben Hamer howler to change the game.
The Derby goalkeeper should have saved Said Benrahma’s low drive early in the second half but allowed it to go under him and the winger sealed victory with his second in the 64th minute – a sublime shot from the edge of the box.
Derby kept going but the defeat leaves them three points off sixth spot while Brentford move to within two points of second place, courtesy of their seventh win in a row.
Millwall 1-0 Hull
Ryan Leonard’s second-minute stunner sealed Sky Bet Championship play-off hopefuls Millwall a narrow victory at beleaguered Hull.
Grant McCann’s Tigers have endured a torrid 2020, with a play-off push replaced by a relegation battle after star men Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki were allowed to leave in January.
Hull have managed just one win since New Year’s Day and on Saturday they failed to capitalise on their relegation rivals’ poor results, with Leonard’s 30-yard strike just 75 seconds into proceedings sealing a 1-0 win for Millwall.
While the Tigers missed the chance to move out of the relegation zone, victory was a welcome shot in the arm for Gary Rowett’s men after their midweek home loss to struggling Middlesbrough.
The Lions were more impressive and disciplined than the hosts as they bounced back impressively on Saturday, with Leonard’s early long-ranger enough to seal victory.
An open, chance-laden first half was replaced by a desperate second period at the KCOM Stadium, where McCann’s men failed to find an equaliser to leave them with just three games to halt their slide into League One.
Middlesbrough 1-3 Bristol City
Nahki Wells scored his 20th goal of the season to keep Bristol City on the fringes of the Sky Bet Championship play-off race and leave Middlesbrough scrapping for dear life.
Wells helped himself to a double either side of Jamie Paterson’s fine finish as the visitors, under the guidance of caretaker manager Dean Holden, cruised to a 3-1 victory at the Riverside Stadium and secured back-to-back wins for the first time since February.
On an afternoon when the Teessiders paid tribute to former manager Jack Charlton before kick-off, they huffed and puffed and were unable to find the cutting edge they needed to repeat their midweek success at Millwall until Britt Assombalonga’s late consolation strike, and they remain perilously close to the bottom three.
Preston 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Jayden Stockley cancelled out a Lewis Grabban penalty as play-off chasers Preston and Nottingham Forest fought out a tense 1-1 draw in the Sky Bet Championship.
Grabban struck after just five minutes of what became a tight battle at Deepdale once Stockley had levelled just 10 minutes later.
Preston had the better chances as they pushed for a second-half winner but Patrick Bauer, Stockley and Tom Barkhuizen all had efforts blocked by Forest bodies.
The result left Preston two points outside the play-off positions, having missed a chance to draw back level with sixth-placed Cardiff. With three games remaining, however, they still have a chance.
Fifth-placed Forest had arrived hoping to shore up their play-off position with a victory but, after long spells under pressure, they settled for a point.
QPR 0-3 Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday took advantage of QPR’s post-lockdown blues by cruising to a 3-0 victory at Loftus Road.
Goals from Dominic Iorfa, Josh Windass and Jacob Murphy secured a much-needed second win since the restart for Garry Monk’s side.
The problems have been piling up for Monk, whose team had taken just 13 points out of a possible 57 since Christmas to fall from third into the bottom half.
Ordinarily they would have no fears of relegation, but a potential points deduction hanging over the club if they are found guilty of an English Football League misconduct charge means they might need all the points they can get.
Rangers will be grateful for the pre-lockdown form which took them to the 50-point mark, as they have now lost five of their six matches since the resumption.
Charlton 0-1 Reading
George Puscas’ early penalty handed Reading a battling 1-0 Championship win at toothless Charlton.
Romania forward Puscas slotted home from the spot just three minutes in, for his 13th goal of the campaign.
And that strike proved enough for the Royals to claim a second win in three matches, leaving Charlton frustrated with their lack of cutting edge.
Chuks Aneke thought he had tapped home a first-half equaliser for the Addicks, but his effort was ruled out for offside.
The 27-year-old’s barren scoring run has now stretched to 18 games and, despite another wholehearted effort, the ex-Arsenal trainee certainly appears short on confidence.
While Reading will be left to coast out the season in mid-table comfort, Charlton’s fourth match without a win has Lee Bowyer’s men still fretting for their safety.
Barnsley 0-0 Wigan
A stalemate at Oakwell kept Barnsley at the foot of the Championship table on paper and Wigan effectively bottom once their 12-point penalty is applied.
The Tykes could not capitalise on a second-half red card for Wigan’s Danny Fox in a goalless draw which was of little use to either side after Luton’s 2-0 win at Huddersfield on Friday night kept up the pressure in the Championship relegation battle.
A point each leaves Barnsley still four points adrift of safety and Wigan effectively one point worse off, although they have appealed against the points deduction which is to be imposed at the end of the season after they entered administration on July 1.
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