Ben stars as Rovers close on leaders

BEN Brereton Diaz scored his 17th of the season as Blackburn beat local rivals Preston 1-0 to close the gap on the top two Fulham and Bournemouth, who drew on Friday night.

Poya Asbaghi is still waiting for his first win as Barnsley head coach after his side were held to a 1-1 draw with Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield at Oakwell.

Lewis O’Brien put Town ahead before Carlton Morris levelled at the end of the first half.

Millwall ended a four-game winless streak with a 3-1 home win over Birmingham.

The Lions were two goals up by half-time through goals from Murray Wallace and Tom Bradshaw and, although Troy Deeney’s second-half strike gave the Blues hope, George Evans sealed the points with Millwall’s third 17 minutes from time.

Peterborough’s miserable away form continued as second-half goals from James Garner and Ryan Yates condemned Darren Ferguson’s men to a 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest.

Teenage winger Alex Scott scored the only goal as Bristol City heaped more misery on Derby with a 1-0 victory at Ashton Gate, while Reading denied Hull City a fifth successive Championship victory when they held them to a 1-1 draw at the SCL Stadium.

Centre-back Tom Holmes put the home side in front on the stroke of half-time with a spectacular overhead kick, before Mallik Wilks equalised 10 minutes into the second half.

Blackpool failed to score for the third game in a row as Luton ran out 3-0 winners at Bloomfield Road. Sonny Bradley opened the scoring with a header on the stroke of half-time, Elijah Adebayo doubled the lead shortly after the interval and Jordan Clark added a third in stoppage time.

In the lunchtime kick-off, Kyle McFadzean scored at both ends but his controversial own goal proved decisive as West Brom secured a 2-1 win at Coventry to end their four-match winless run.

McFadzean turned into his own net following an apparent handball by Albion’s Cedric Kipre on 43 minutes, after Karlan Grant had earlier finished off Callum Robinson’s pass to put the Baggies 2-0 up before half-time.

The Coventry defender was on the scoresheet at the right end seven minutes from time to halve the deficit but Mark Robins’ men could not salvage a late equaliser.

Goals from Tyrese Campbell and Mario Vrancic gave Stoke City a 2-0 victory at fellow play-off hopefuls QPR.

Charlie Austin’s scuffed secondhalf penalty was saved by keeper Adam Davies on a frustrating afternoon for Rangers.