Mavididi puts Foxes back at the top

STEPHY Mavididi headed Leicester back to the top of the Sky Bet Championship as top two Ipswich and Leeds fluffed their lines.

Mavididi’s 87th-minute goal secured a hard-fought 2-1 home win over Birmingham in which Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had put the Foxes in front with 28 minutes gone, only for Jay Stansfield to level on the stroke of half-time.

Ipswich, who had started the day at the top of the pile, suffered a serious blow to their automatic promotion hopes when they slipped to a 1-0 defeat to derby rivals Norwich.

A game of few clear-cut chances at Carrow Road was settled by Marcelino Nunez’s 30-yard free-kick six minutes before half-time.

Leeds slid to third place after a 2-1 defeat – their first in 16 league outings – at Coventry, who remain in the hunt for a play-off berth as a result.

Ellis Simms headed the Sky Blues into a ninth-minute lead and Haji Wright gave them breathing space four minutes after the restart to ensure substitute Joel Piroe’s 76th-minute strike counted for little.

Neither Southampton nor West Brom were able to take advantage with both having to settle for a point on their travels.

The Saints played out a 0-0 draw at Blackburn as Rovers built upon their impressive 5-1 win at Sunderland on Monday, while the Baggies squandered a 2-0 lead at Stoke.

They looked to be cruising to victory when Mikey Johnston and Jed Wallace scored either side of the break, but Million Manhoef pulled one back for the Potters, who went on to make it 2-2 through Andre Vidigal, who converted the rebound after Alex Palmer had saved his 78th-minute penalty.

Preston lost ground after they could only manage a 0-0 draw at Watford, who have drawn their last three games, and the midtable clash between Sunderland and Bristol City also ended goalless.

At the foot of the table, Huddersfield boosted their survival chances when substitute Rhys Healey headed them to a priceless 1-0 victory over Millwall and out of the bottom three in the fourth minute of added time.

Sheffield Wednesday remain inside the relegation zone, but just a point behind the Terriers after a 2-0 win at QPR.

Substitute Djeidi Gassama’s 59th-minute strike set them on their way, and fellow substitute Anthony Musaba made sure with a second deep into stoppage time.