Derby boss Wayne Rooney feels his side were left to rue missed chances as they fell to a 3-1 Championship defeat to Blackburn, despite taking the lead at Ewood Park.Derby took the lead midway through the first half when Nathan Byrne set up Ravel Morrison to finish from close range.Greeted with boos at half-time, Rovers found new impetus and two goals in six second-half minutes from Scott Wharton...Full Story »

Jon Brady praised Northampton’s resilience after they held off a spirited Stevenage fightback to secure a crucial 2-1 away win.Goals from Aaron McGowan and Mitch Pinnock put the promotion-chasing Cobblers 2-0 up before Chris Lines pulled one back for Stevenage late on.Northampton survived a nervy final 10 minutes to secure their 18th league win of the season and stay second in a cramped Le...Full Story »

Swindon boss Ben Garner insisted the “referee has made a mistake” after Louis Reed was sent off late in the 2-1 victory over Sutton.Harry McKirdy’s second-half winner clinched all three points before Reed’s stoppage-time dismissal for diving in the box.Boss Garner said: “There’s contact. We’ve got a video, we’ve got photos. The referee has made a m...Full Story »

Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore admitted Accrington made life “very difficult” for his side as a late equaliser earned Stanley a hard-fought 1-1 draw.Barry Bannan and Saido Berahino saw early chances saved by goalkeeper Toby Savin, but the visitors frustrated the Owls for most of the first half.Apart from Callum Paterson seeing his drive saved by Savin a few minutes before t...Full Story »

Leam Richardson says Wigan’s hard-fought League One win at Crewe was another example of the promotion-chasers’ resolve negotiating a hefty schedule.The 2-0 win against the bottom club was the ninth consecutive midweek fixture for the Latics as they kept leaders Rotherham in their sights.But at times it looked like the games may have taken their toll as Wigan laboured to pose a threat...Full Story »

Fulham head coach Marco Silva admitted his team did not turn up in the first half as the runaway Championship leaders lost 1-0 at West Brom – but insisted complacency is not a problem.The Cottagers remain 11 points clear at the top of the table but could not produce an effort on target as they failed to score for the first time in 14 league games going back to December 20.“It was not...Full Story »

Port Vale assistant manager Andy Crosby likened Kian Harratt to a young Billy Sharp after the striker came off the bench to score a brace in a 3-1 win against Mansfield.Harratt replaced James Wilson in the 72nd minute with the scores level and stuck two quickfire goals to make it three home league wins on the bounce for Vale.The 19-year-old took his goal tally to four in all competitions this se...Full Story »

Darwin Nunez got the only goal as Benfica stunned Ajax 1-0 in Amsterdam to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Erik ten Hag’s men had scored twice in the first leg in Portugal but were unable to breach the visitors’ defence at the Johan Cruyff Arena and went out 3-2 on aggregate. Ajax thought they had taken an early lead, but Sebastien Haller’s effort was rule...Full Story »

Paul Warne was pleased to see his Rotherham side see off a “very nervy” late rally from Lincoln to win 2-1 and strengthen their promotion bid.Rotherham raced into a quick lead with goals in the 11th and 13th minutes.The first came from Ben Wiles, who smashed in off the post after being picked out by midfield partner Ollie Rathbone.Wiles created the next goal as he ran forward and pla...Full Story »

Tom Ince rescued a vital point for his father Paul as he scored a late equaliser at Bournemouth in a 1-1 draw.Reading had been heading towards a costly defeat after trailing for much of the match to Dominic Solanke’s early goal but ended the night two points clear of the relegation zone thanks to Ince’s excellent strike.Despite winning their first game under Ince, Reading had lost al...Full Story »

Rochdale boss Robbie Stockdale defended James Ball for missing a golden opportunity to clinch victory during his side’s 1-1 draw against Salford.The midfielder had fired Dale into a first-half lead and, after the visitors had levelled through Matty Lund, could have handed them three points but spooned a shot over the crossbar from four yards.“I was disappointed that it was set-piece ...Full Story »

Exeter manager Matt Taylor admitted his side were far from their best as they overcame stubborn Crawley with a 2-1 win at St James Park.Two goals from Tim Dieng helped the Grecians on their way before Kwesi Appiah pulled one back in first-half stoppage time, and Exeter hung on to claim three valuable points.“It was a big three points given the performance wasn’t anywhere near where i...Full Story »

Paul Ince admitted he was disappointed with a point after son Tom rescued a vital 1-1 draw with a late equaliser at Bournemouth.Reading had been heading towards a costly defeat after trailing for much of the match to Dominic Solanke’s early goal but ended the night two points clear of the relegation zone thanks to Ince’s excellent strike.“I shouldn’t be sitting here now s...Full Story »

Steve Cotterill is proud of how far his Shrewsbury side have come after their 5-0 victory over Morecambe.The Shrews were beaten 2-0 by Morecambe in August but romped to a 5-0 victory on Tuesday with a brace apiece from Daniel Udoh and Luke Leahy, capped off by Ryan Bowman’s bullet header.Cotterill said: “Morecambe beat us earlier in the season and it wasn’t particularly a good ...Full Story »

Paul Simpson watched Carlisle slip to defeat for the first time under his tenure but insisted after a 2-1 Sky Bet League Two home loss to Newport that it was not the end of the world.Goals either side of the break from defender Mickey Demetriou and Aston Villa loanee Finn Azaz put the Exiles in the driving seat after 65 minutes.Substitute Omari Patrick’s 80th-minute reply gave the Cumbrian...Full Story »

Angry Harrogate boss Simon Weaver hit out at the “unfathomable” decision to send off striker Luke Armstrong in his side’s 2-0 defeat at promotion-chasing Tranmere.Armstrong saw red just before the half-hour mark after being shown two yellow cards inside three minutes on what Weaver branded “the strangest night of football” he had seen.Harrogate were sent crashing to...Full Story »

Joey Barton was full of praise for Newcastle loanee Elliot Anderson after seeing his in-form Bristol Rovers team move into the League Two play-off zone with a 1-0 win over Colchester.It was the 19-year-old midfielder’s sweet right-footed drive from the left side of the box after 49 minutes that settled a closely-fought game from which both sides emerged with credit.Anderson collected the s...Full Story »

Gillingham manager Neil Harris blamed an “individual error” for his side’s 1-0 defeat at Charlton.The Gills knew a point would be enough to lift them out of the Sky Bet League One relegation zone.But Alex Gilbey scored the winning goal in the 40th minute after Gillingham goalkeeper Pontus Dahlberg failed to deal confidently with Corey Blackett-Taylor’s shot.Although Jayde...Full Story »

Oldham boss John Sheridan is worried his side’s habit of shooting themselves in the foot could cost them their Football League status after they again let a lead slip to lose 2-1 at Walsall.The visitors took the lead through Will Sutton’s header, only hours after Oldham had recalled the 19-year-old defender from a loan spell at National League North side Farsley Celtic.But Emmanuel O...Full Story »

Delighted Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens revealed he spilled blood after watching his team peg back League Two leaders Forest Green to record a 1-1 draw.Midfielder Ruel Sotiriou’s equaliser made sure of a fourth draw on the bounce in Orient’s 16-game winless run.Sotiriou raced on to a defence-splitting ball from substitute Theo Archibald before drilling in his seventh goal of the ...Full Story »