Rivals at the bottom also win to ease the pressure
WHILE Nottingham Forest were on their way to an important home victory over Blackburn Rovers, three other clubs at the wrong end of the Championship table were also in the mood to celebrate.
Coventry City pulled off a 2-0 victory at St Andrew’s against secondplaced Brentford who, without injured 24-goal striker Ivan Toney, suffered a third consecutive loss.
Former Forest striker Tyler Walker scored in each half, the first from the penalty spot, to move the Sky Blues five points clear of the bottom three.
“It was a hard-fought and really brave performance,” said Sky Blues manager Mark Robins.
“There was fight and there was determination and I think they are traits that will stand you in good stead.
“Tyler Walker’s second goal was outstanding and we have really missed that.”
Bees manager Thomas Frank added: “We are not a bad team. That doesn’t happen overnight but, yes, we are in a sticky patch.”
Huddersfield Town also upset one of the clubs with their eyes on promotion, returning to form with a stunning 4-1 home win over Swansea City.
Conor Hourihane got the Welsh side back in the game on the stroke of half-time with a brilliant free kick, cancelling out Fraizer Campbell’s opener.
But the Terriers responded in the first 10 minutes of the second half with a Lewis O’brien goal.
Former Derby County player Duane Holmes scored a double to secure a first win in nine League games.
“When you have a negative experience, such as conceding just before half-time, the key thing is the confidence to bounce back,” said Huddersfield boss Carlos Corberan.
“I cannot find one player today who didn’t complete the game in the way we wanted.
“Duane is showing his adaptation. He was great and this was important for us. Sometimes the player needs time to be ready but I was happy with Duane.”
Birmingham City came out on top in the bottom-of-the-table clash with Sheffield Wednesday, winning 1-0.
After Liam Shaw was sent off for the hosts in the 50th minute, Scott Hogan punished them to move the Blues two points above the bottom three and leave Wednesday three points from safety.
Those results left Rotherham United in the bottom three after Norwich City cashed in on the defeats for Brentford and Swansea to move seven points clear at the top of the Championship with a 1-0 victory at Carrow Road.
Teemu Pukki’s 15th goal of the season secured the Canaries a third consecutive win, leaving Rotherham two points from safety.
Cardiff City and Middlesbrough moved three points off the play-off positions, after Bournemouth lost 2-1 away to Queens Park Rangers.
Goals from Stefan Johansen and Todd Kane, either side of Shane Long’s equaliser, gave Rangers a fourth successive triumph and ended Jonathan Woodgate’s unbeaten start as Cherries caretaker boss.
Woodgate lamented after the game that the uncertainty of who was in charge was hurting Bournemouth and the club responded by confirming the former Middlesbrough boss as head coach until the end of the season.
Ashley Fletcher and Marc Bola struck in the first half for Boro in a 2-0 win away to fifth-placed Reading.
Cardiff claimed a fifth consecutive win as they hammered Preston North End 4-0. Preston missed two penalties in a minute.
Kieffer Moore’s 16th goal of the season from the penalty spot gave the Bluebirds the lead early on before Josh Murphy netted the second.
North End had two chances to halve the deficit from the spot. Paul Gallagher missed first and, after he was fouled attempting to tap in the rebound, Ched Evans was also thwarted by Dillon Phillips.
Marlon Pack and Mark Harris made them pay with further goals for Cardiff.
Nick Powell struck twice and Steven Fletcher was also on target as Stoke City beat Luton Town 3-0 to stay in the hunt for a top-six spot.
Managerless Bristol City suffered a seventh consecutive loss in all competitions after Carlton Morris’ third goal in as many games gave Barnsley a 1-0 victory at Ashton Gate.
Millwall were held to a 0-0 draw with rock-bottom Wycombe Wanderers.