Ben Garner was thrilled Charlton are in the hat for the Carabao Cup fourth round after squeaking past Stevenage on penalties after it finished 1-1 at the Lamex Stadium.Joe Wollacott produced a superb save to deny Jake Taylor after eight flawless spot-kicks, leaving Scott Fraser to smash home and earn a 5-4 shoot-out win.But it was Chuks Aneke who first rescued the League One side, rifling in at ...Full Story »

Slaven Bilic believes Watford should have made their dominance pay off earlier as they defeated Reading at Vicarage Road.A penalty and a late strike by Joao Pedro puts the Hertfordshire side into the play-off places in their final home game before the World Cup.The Croatian was pleased with the overall performance of his side, but felt the game should have been comfortably sewn up much sooner.He...Full Story »

Mark Kennedy discovered that three days is a long time in football after his Lincoln side pulled off a Carabao Cup third-round shock at Ashton Gate.The Imps head coach had watched his League One team dumped out of the FA Cup by non-league Chippenham at the weekend.But what a response he got as first-half strikes from Matty Virtue and Ben House set Lincoln on course to create a surprise of their ...Full Story »

Mark Hughes was delighted Matty Platt’s confusing sending off did not come back to haunt Bradford in their 2-1 win at Mansfield.Skipper Richie Smallwood and goal machine Andy Cook put the high-flying Bantams two goals to the good as they struck either side of half-time.Platt was sent off just after the hour and Will Swan gave the visitors a scare when he struck.But the battling Bantams hel...Full Story »

Neil Harris revealed Gillingham had to walk the last part of their journey to Brentford before running away with a place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.The League Two Gills stunned their top-flight hosts with a 6-5 win on penalties after battling to a 1-1 draw.Ivan Toney’s early goal put the Bees ahead but Gillingham hit back through a 73rd-minute header from substitute Mikael Mand...Full Story »

Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin feels the cinch Premiership will have to get used to the increased risk of penalties under VAR after three spot-kicks were awarded for handball in his side’s 2-1 defeat at Livingston.Referee Nick Walsh played on each time but was called to the monitor by Andrew Dallas after lengthy delays and ultimately pointed to the spot.Sean Kelly put Livi two up from 12 yar...Full Story »

Michael Carrick was beaming as bright as the Illuminations after Middlesbrough beat Sky Bet Championship strugglers Blackpool 3-0 at Bloomfield Road.Isaiah Jones struck in the 15th minute in an authoritative first half and made their dominance pay shortly after the break via a Marcus Forss penalty.Chuba Akpom sealed the result with 25 minutes remaining as Boro climbed up to 16th in the table, le...Full Story »

QPR boss Mick Beale told his players to “wake up” after a 2-1 loss to bottom side Huddersfield continued their dismal recent run.Lyndon Dykes netted after just 90 seconds but Josh Ruffels scored twice – his first goals for the Terriers – to give them their first away win of the season.Beale’s team were recently top of the league but have lost three of their past fou...Full Story »

Mark Robins praised his patient Coventry side after beating Wigan 2-0 to earn a third Sky Bet Championship win in a row.After a drab first half in which Kasey Palmer came closest to opening the scoring, Gustavo Hamer’s deflected effort broke the deadlock before Viktor Gyokeres finished Wigan off on the counter in stoppage time.It saw Coventry move into the top half of the Championship for ...Full Story »

Nathan Jones insisted “nothing has been decided” after what potentially was his final game as Luton boss ended in a 2-0 defeat at his former club Stoke.The Welshman will now hold talks with Southampton about becoming the Premier League club’s new boss in succession to Ralph Hasenhuttl.“It is wonderful to be linked but nothing has been decided,” said Jones, who suffe...Full Story »

Birmingham head coach John Eustace heaped praise on Troy Deeney after the captain’s late goal earned his side a 2-2 draw against Swansea at St Andrew’s.The 34-year-old striker equalised in the 89th minute of the Sky Bet Championship contest when he thundered the ball home from close range after Dion Sanderson headed on Juninho Bacuna’s corner.Blues led when the unmarked Scott H...Full Story »

Jamie Cooke secured all three points for FC Halifax Town with a first-half strike in the The Shaymen’s 1-0 National League win away at Solihull Moors.Cooke finally pulled the visitors ahead on 34 minutes after missing two early chances.Angelo Cappello came close to an opener but fired across the face of goal as Solihull keeper Louie Moulden failed to make a stop.That opened the door f...Full Story »

Barnet moved to within a point of the Vanarama National League play-offs with a 2-0 win at Altrincham.Ryan De Havilland put the visitors in front with 16 minutes gone when he turned in Sam Beard’s cross from the left.Barnet were then grateful to goalkeeper Laurie Walker, who foiled Elliot Newby after he sprang the offside trap.Walker was busy again midway through the second half when he go...Full Story »

Ivan Toney’s final audition for a World Cup place could hardly have been more authentic after Brentford crashed out of the Carabao Cup 6-5 on penalties to Gillingham.Brentford were leading the League Two strugglers through England hopeful Toney’s early goal, but then sat back and allowed their opponents to come at them in the second half.The Gills duly hauled themselves back int...Full Story »

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson insisted that there were very few positives to take from the 3-3 draw at Harrogate.The Cumbrians headed to Wetherby Road seventh in the League Two standings and with their sights set on fifth place following what has been a bright start to the campaign.But they found themselves 3-2 down following a spirited fightback by the struggling hosts and needed a last-gasp equal...Full Story »

MK Dons head coach Liam Manning feels his side’s attack continued to turn a corner in the 2-0 victory over Morecambe that took them into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.The Dons are fourth from bottom in Sky Bet League One but are now unbeaten in four games in all competitions, keeping clean sheets in all four, and have started to find the net more regularly.In truth, they were barely ...Full Story »

Frank Lampard admitted Everton’s fringe players had come up short after being sent crashing out of the Carabao Cup at Bournemouth.Lampard defended his decision to make eleven changes as the Toffees’ hopes of moving a step closer to winning their first trophy since 1995 were dashed with a 4-1 third round defeat in Dorset.Manager Lampard said: “We were poor. I made a lot of chang...Full Story »

Rochdale boss Jim Bentley was happy for match-winner Ian Henderson to take the plaudits following his side’s 1-0 win over Salford.Henderson became Dale’s all-time leading goalscorer when he netted his 130th goal for the club in the 80th minute of the game, heading home Ethan Brierley’s intelligent delivery.The experienced frontman was given a guard of honour on the field after ...Full Story »

Leicester’s James Justin will have a scan on Wednesday to discover the extent of his injury after he was carried off against Newport.The defender was forced off in the 3-0 Carabao Cup win after scoring the opener before Jamie Vardy’s brace eased the Foxes into the fourth round.Justin’s injury overshadowed a routine victory and came following his first goal in almost two years.H...Full Story »

AFC Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson admitted his side’s 2-0 victory over league leaders Leyton Orient was his favourite as Dons boss.Ayoub Assal’s fifth goal in his last six matches opened the scoring for Jackson’s side, his 19th-minute effort curling into the back of the net after a deflection.And it was his shot that led to Dons’ second of the night, the rebound falling ...Full Story »