Championship roundup: Ipswich tighten grip on second but Coventry made to wait

Ipswich gave their hopes of automatic promotion a massive boost by recording a hard-fought 2-0 win over Norwich at Carrow Road, while Coventry must wait for another day after being held 0-0 at home by Sheffield Wednesday.

Ipswich moved into the top two, with at least a game in hand on their nearest rivals, as first-half goals from Jaden Philogene, with a harsh penalty, and George Hirst completed a long overdue double over their East Anglian rivals.

Norwich had more of the ball, but were frustrated by an impressive defensive display from the visitors, who kept the number of clearcut chances down to a bare minimum. The defeat ended any faint chance the Canaries had of making the playoffs – although the fact they are heading for a top 10 finish is still a remarkable achievement for a side who were in the bottom three at the start of the year.

George Hirst is congratulated after doubling Ipswich’s advantage. Photograph: Alan Walter/Shutterstock

Kieran McKenna, the Ipswich manager, said: “This is a brilliant result. As soon as I came here I was told how important this fixture was and that it had been so long since we’d beaten them. We finally got a win at our place earlier in the season and now we’ve backed it up by completing a double.”

Coventry missed the chance to move one point from promotion to the Premier League as they were held to a goalless draw by relegated Sheffield Wednesday. Frank Lampard’s side could have been promoted if they had beaten the lowly Owls and Middlesbrough had failed to beat Portsmouth later in the day.

It was just a third point of 2026 for Sheffield Wednesday, who broke the Football League record by going 37 games without a win in all competitions in the process.

Lampard said: “We obviously created enough to win the game but we didn’t quite do it, and you have to credit the opposition for making it difficult for you … I know there’s a pressure and everyone wants to release the pressure by getting it done and now we have to move on to the next one.”

Coventry’s Brandon Thomas-Asante shows his frustration. Photograph: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock

Millwall had gone second overnight but their bid for automatic promotion suffered a blow after they were held to a 0-0 draw by West Brom at home. Millwall created the best chances but Josh Coburn volleyed wide from five yards and Mihailo Ivanovic hit the bar from long-range.

Middlesbrough could have taken advantage of Millwall’s slip, but fell to a shock last-minute defeat at home to Portsmouth, who gave their hopes of avoiding relegation a huge boost. The visitors didn’t have a shot on target until Andre Dozzell’s volley deflected in off Conor Chaplin in the final seconds of seven minutes of stoppage time, bringing to an end an eight-game winless run for John Mousinho’s side.

Boro are now winless in six and three points behind Ipswich, who have two games in hand. Portsmouth had looked set to fall into the relegation zone until Chaplin’s winner, which keeps Mousinho’s side a point and a place above the bottom three.

Kim Hellberg said he was “devastated” by Middlesbrough’s flat performance, with his side now having scored just four goals in their last six games. “First half was terrible,” he said “I don’t know why, I must have failed with everything I told them before the game because we weren’t good enough.

“It was boring, it was lazy, there was no energy, except in the first 15-20 minutes in the second half. In the first half, it’s slow, it’s boring, it’s no energy. It’s passive. That is the disappointment.”

Late goals from Gustavo Hamer and substitute Danny Ings denied Hull the chance to strengthen their grip on a playoff place as Sheffield United ran out 2-1 winners at Bramall Lane. Two ex-Blades were the centre of attention for the visitors, with Oli McBurnie’s early goal giving them the lead and John Lundstram receiving a gamechanging red card in the second half. After the sending off, United dominated the game and earned an impressive three points against the promotion chasers.

Southampton continued their march up the table as they came from behind to beat fellow play-off hopefuls Derby 2-1 at St Mary’s. Second-half goals from Leo Scienza and Taylor Harwood-Bellis cancelled out Carlton Morris’ earlier strike to extend the Saints’ unbeaten run to 17 games.

QPR and Bristol City maintained their recent unbeaten runs by playing out a 0-0 draw at Loftus Road. The Robins have not lost since Roy Hodgson took interim charge, having won their first two matches after the former manager was given the role. QPR are unbeaten in five matches, but the result did nothing for either side’s outside hopes of a playoff spot.

Brad Potts’ second goal of the season earned Preston a 2-1 victory at Charlton. The Addicks, who have lost their last three Championship matches at The Valley, went ahead through Joe Rankin-Costello in the first half, but North End equalised before the interval through Lewis Dobbin. Potts scored in the 65th minute as Preston won on the road for the first time since 4 January.

Zan Vipotnik’s 21st league goal of the season inspired Swansea to a 1-0 win against struggling Leicester at the King Power Stadium as the Foxes saw their relegation fears worsen. The game’s only goal came after 53 minutes as Vipotnik blasted a shot into the net via the crossbar from close range after Eom Ji-Sung sprinted from his own box to the edge of the Leicester penalty area in a blistering counterattack.

The hosts slipped to second bottom as a result, four points from safety with four games left. Their manager, Gary Rowett, called the goal they conceded “heartbreaking”, adding: “We started OK and created some good moments without really getting into top gear and hurting the opposition as much as we’d like. But we just give a stupid goal away. I don’t know how many times I’ve said it. It’s an absolutely ridiculous goal to give away, maybe we have to just go back to basics.

“To give a goal away of that sort is not only hugely frustrating, but when you’ve done it so many times it’s heartbreaking to see because it puts everything you’ve worked on out of the window. We didn’t react well enough after that. Our reaction after the goal was not what you would expect when you’re fighting for your lives down the bottom end of the table.

“We’ve struggled over a long period this season to do the basics well. The next game is going to define a lot. We’ve got to show more fight and show a little bit more desperation.”

Swansea’s Zan Vipotnik celebrates scoring against Leicester Photograph: Magi Haroun/Huw Evans/Shutterstock

Oxford gave their hopes of beating the drop a boost with a 2-0 win over mid-table Watford. Myles Peart-Harris scored their opener in the 19th minute when the Hornets were unable to clear a Cameron Brannagan free-kick. And substitute Mark Harris sealed a first win in five games on a fast break two minutes into stoppage time with a low shot past goalkeeper Egil Selvik.

Matt Bloomfield’s team looked to be climbing out of the relegation places, but Portsmouth’s late winner at Middlesbrough leaves them in 22nd place with four games to go.

Adam Forshaw scored only his third goal in a decade as Blackburn edged towards survival with a 1-1 draw at 10-man Stoke. The former Leeds and Middlesbrough midfielder gave Rovers a 21st-minute lead with his first goal since February 2025 and just his second since April 2016. But it only earned one point rather than three for Michael O’Neill’s side as Crystal Palace loanee Jesurun Rak-Sakyi levelled for City after 56 minutes.

Stoke finished a man down when the former Blackburn defender and Spurs loanee Ash Phillips was dismissed for a second bookable offence three minutes from time.