WATCH: Saturday's Sky Bet Championship highlights
A round-up of Saturday's action in the second tier.
Sky Bet Championship results
- Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Preston North End
- Sheffield United 2-0 Rotherham United
- Bolton Wanderers 2-1 Millwall
- Bristol City 0-1 Leeds United
- Derby County 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
- Middlesbrough 1-2 Brentford
- Nottingham Forest 3-0 Hull City
- Queens Park Rangers 0-0 Stoke City
- Reading 3-2 Wigan Athletic
- West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Ipswich Town
- Norwich City 1-0 Swansea City (Friday, report here)
SKY BET EFL HIGHLIGHTS
Sporting Life has highlights of every single Sky Bet EFL game across the Championship, League One and League Two. We also pick out the best goals each weekend from the three divisions.All highlights from Saturday's games will be on site and FREE to watch on Sunday.
Bamford helps Leeds retain second spot
Patrick Bamford's early goal proved enough for Leeds to boost their hopes of automatic promotion from the Championship with a 1-0 win at Bristol City.
The visitors took a ninth minute lead when Ezgjan Alioski's long crossfield pass from the left was headed across goal by former City defender Luke Ayling for Bamford to slide in and score from close range.
It set up a deserved success for Marcelo Bielsa's team, who only came under concerted pressure in the closing stages, although not without concern as Bamford left the field with a suspected knee injury midway through the second half.
Blades beat South Yorkshire rivals to maintain automatic charge
Third-placed Sheffield United remain hot on the heels of Leeds after they beat 10-man Rotherham 2-0 at Bramall Lane in the early kick-off.
Jack O'Connell's opener and Mark Duffy's fifth goal of the season ensured a comfortable victory for the Blades after Rotherham captain Will Vaulks was sent off in the first half.
The hosts recorded a fifth successive clean sheet with Dean Henderson largely untroubled in goal as he took his season tally to 15.
Blow for Baggies against Ipswich
Ipswich dented West Brom's promotion bid as Jon Nolan's second-half equaliser earned the Sky Bet Championship's bottom side a 1-1 draw at The Hawthorns.
Ipswich had been staring down the barrel of defeat after on-loan Fulham midfielder Stefan Johansen had given Albion a fourth-minute lead with a deflected free-kick.
But Nolan headed home a 48th-minute leveller to deal a fresh blow to Albion's automatic promotion hopes as their problems in front of their own fans continued.
Albion have not won at home in the league since Boxing Day and have now only collected one victory in their last nine Championship matches in front of their own fans.
The point for Ipswich made it four 1-1 draws from their last five games and they look to be headed for almost certain relegation.
Brentford all-but end Boro's automatic hopes
Middlesbrough's fading hopes of an automatic-promotion spot took a battering at the Riverside Stadium when Brentford came from behind to win 2-1.
Ashley Fletcher's poacher's finish in the sixth minute looked to have put Boro on track for a third win in four undefeated games in the race to the Premier League.
But a victory that was very much required because of wins for Norwich, Sheffield United and Leeds was taken away from Boro in the final 20 minutes, leaving them 12 points off the top two.
Defender Ryan Shotton helped Henrik Dalsgaard's drive into his own net after some poor defending in the 70th minute and that was followed by Said Benrahama's winner three minutes later.
It was only Brentford's second away win of the campaign and left Middlesbrough fans questioning Tony Pulis' decision to replace striker Britt Assombalonga with full-back George Friend when they led.
Bolton earn vital victory after eventful week
Pawel Olkowski and Gary O'Neil scored second-half goals as Bolton ended a rollercoaster week with a 2-1 Sky Bet Championship victory over FA Cup quarter-finalists Millwall.
Phil Parkinson's Wanderers stay in the relegation zone after only a second win in 11 games.
And after coasting towards three vital points they made life hard by conceding an 87th-minute goal to Lions top scorer Lee Gregory.
But with Ken Anderson's controversial reign as chairman coming to an end and a takeover on the horizon, this victory could just be the catalyst for a great escape for a second successive season.
Owls' play-off hopes fade after Derby draw
Sheffield Wednesday's lingering hopes of a top-six finish were dealt another blow when they were held 1-1 by play-off-chasing Derby at Pride Park.
Steve Bruce's side came from behind to claim a deserved point but a second draw in a week does little for their chances while Derby were frustrated to see a second victory in five days slip away despite moving back into sixth.
Bradley Johnson put Derby ahead but Wednesday wasted good chances before Dominic Iorfa headed in a free-kick early in the second half.
Sam Winnall had a goal ruled out on his return to Derby and Kieren Westwood made several late saves as the Rams pressed for a winner.
Forest boost play-off hopes
Nottingham Forest improved their chances of making the Sky Bet Championship play-offs with a 3-0 victory at home to Hull.
Substitute Joao Carvalho's stunning 72nd-minute strike gave the hosts a crucial lead in a game that had been drifting aimlessly towards a goalless draw.
Fellow substitute Karim Ansarifard then put the match beyond Hull's reach with a crisp follow-up just four minutes later.
And a home win was confirmed after 82 minutes when Joe Lolley scored from the penalty spot.
Royals leave it late to complete comeback
Yakou Meite's last-gasp header saw Reading snatch a dramatic 3-2 Sky Bet Championship win over fellow strugglers Wigan.
Athletic went in front midway through the first half thanks to Nick Powell but Reading equalised from a John Swift free-kick just before the break.
The Royals then improved slightly in the second period but Wigan restored their advantage in the 64th minute from a Joe Garner strike.
However, Mo Barrow made it 2-2 in the 89th minute with a low 25-yard drive before Meite nodded in the winner deep into stoppage time.
Preston firmly in play-off race, Rovers' winless run goes on
Daniel Johnson's second goal in as many games gave Championship play-off hopefuls Preston a battling 1-0 victory at Blackburn.
The midfielder pounced in the eighth minute with an emphatic finish to give the Lilywhites a lead they were ultimately able to hold on to, despite going down to 10 men in injury time after Darnell Fisher was given a second yellow card.
Blackburn huffed and puffed but could not beat visiting goalkeeper Declan Rudd.
Victory at Ewood Park means North End are 10 games unbeaten, winning their last five on the road, a feat not achieved at this level since Sir Tom Finney's playing days.
Defeat for Rovers - their sixth in seven games - makes this their longest winless league sequence in almost two years.
Stoke in hard-earned point at QPR
Stoke battled to a 0-0 draw at QPR despite playing most of the match with 10 men after Sam Clucas' early sending-off.
Struggling Rangers, who themselves ended the game with 10 men after Grant Hall was sent off for a second booking with three minutes remaining, were poor throughout.
Clucas ludicrously got himself dismissed after just eight minutes for stamping on Josh Scowen in full view of referee Gavin Ward.
Scowen followed through with an innocuous sliding challenge just as Ward, who was standing a few yards away, blew for a free-kick after Clucas had handled the ball near the edge of the penalty area.
Clucas inexplicably reacted and was immediately shown the red card.
But Rangers, having lost eight of their previous nine Sky Bet Championship matches and won just once in the league since Boxing Day, were unable to take advantage.
Their miserable afternoon was compounded when defender Hall was shown a second yellow card following a foul on Tom Ince.
Stoke have not won in 21 league visits to London - a remarkable run stretching back to November 2014 - but will regard this as a well-earned point.
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