James Ward-Prowse produced a pair of stunning strikes as Southampton battled back from two goals down to claim a thrilling 2-2 Premier League draw at mid-table rivals Brighton.Saints skipper Ward-Prowse expertly curled home the 14th top-flight free-kick goal of his career just before the break before lashing his team level early in the second period.Danny Welbeck’s early close-range finish...Full Story »

Port Vale must embrace being the hunter rather than the hunted after dropping out of the League Two automatic promotion places with a 2-0 defeat at Walsall, says interim boss Andy Crosby.Sam Perry’s glancing header and Emmanuel Osadebe’s stoppage-time strike pushed Vale down to fourth, a point behind Northampton with just two games remaining.Fellow promotion hopefuls Mansfield and Su...Full Story »

Exeter manager Matt Taylor paid tribute to his players as they moved to within one win of promotion to League One with a 2-0 victory over Rochdale at St James Park.After a nervy start, Tim Dieng guided an Archie Collins free-kick into the net for the opening goal before Matt Jay’s diving header sealed the win and left the Grecians on the brink of a return to the third tier for the first ti...Full Story »

Forest Green manager Rob Edwards emerged from celebrating with the club’s fans on the Memorial Stadium pitch after confirmation of their promotion to League One and said: “It’s the proudest moment of my professional career.”The head coach had seen his team produce a fully committed and impressive performance in a goalless draw at Bristol Rovers to earn the point they need...Full Story »

MK Dons manager Liam Manning revealed he never doubted his side would bounce back in style after the 2-0 win over Morecambe ended a poor run of form.The Dons are chasing automatic promotion from League One but had taken just one point from their last three games before the Shrimps’ visit to Stadium MK on Saturday.However, goals either side of the break from Harry Darling and Daniel Harvie ...Full Story »

Interim manager Paul Ince expressed deep pride at keeping Reading in the Sky Bet Championship despite suffering a 3-0 defeat at Hull.The Royals had looked in a perilous position when Ince replaced Veljko Paunovic in February, but they have stayed up with two games remaining as relegation rivals Peterborough lost to Nottingham Forest.Ince said: “It’s a big one for me – especiall...Full Story »

Wigan are still one point off confirming automatic promotion from Sky Bet League One after being held 1-1 by Plymouth at the DW Stadium.The home side did everything but score in an utterly dominant first half.Jordan Cousins, Callum Lang, Will Keane and Max Power all went close, only to be denied by a matter of inches or desperate defending.Power then headed just wide shortly after the restart, b...Full Story »

Exeter stand on the verge of a return to League One for the first time in 10 years after they overcame a slow start to beat Rochdale 2-0 at St James Park.Rochdale started the better of the two teams and Cameron Dawson made a superb save with his feet to deny former Grecian Jimmy Keohane before he made an even better one moments later to again deny Keohane.Offrande Zanzala should have done better...Full Story »

Forest Green clinched automatic promotion from League Two with a hard-earned goalless draw at Bristol Rovers.Needing a point to guarantee a top-three finish, the visitors turned in a committed display and just about edged a thrilling encounter.For Bristol, the point strengthened their play-off hopes and maintained hopes of grabbing third place.Forest Green had the better of a high-tempo first ha...Full Story »

Rotherham manager Paul Warne is pleased his side have their destiny in their own hands after they rallied to beat Oxford 2-1.Dan Barlaser went from villain to hero when he stroked home the second-half winner from the penalty spot, having earlier scored an own goal.It ensured the second-placed Millers remain on the same points as MK Dons in third, but with a better goal difference and a game in h...Full Story »

Sunderland gave their play-off hopes a major boost in Sky Bet League One as they thrashed 10-man Cambridge United 5-1 at the Stadium of Light.The visitors had to play for almost 80 minutes with a man disadvantage after Lloyd Jones was dismissed for a foul on Ross Stewart, and the Black Cats exploited their numerical superiority ruthlessly.Stewart ended an eight-game goal drought by scoring twice...Full Story »

Rotherham firmly wrestled their automatic promotion destiny back into their own hands after coming from behind to beat Oxford 2-1.The second-placed Millers are level on points with MK Dons but ahead on goal difference and with a game in hand as League One heads to a dramatic finale.Oxford took the lead on 10 minutes when Sam Long broke down the right and his wicked cross was turned into his own ...Full Story »

Northampton moved into the automatic promotion places with a 4-2 away win at Leyton Orient.Mitch Pinnock opened the scoring in the 19th minute when he rifled home an unstoppable 20-yard shot and the Cobblers doubled their lead on 32 minutes when John Guthrie scored from close range after his initial effort had hit the upright.Six minutes later, Joshua Felix-Eppiah sprung the offside trap for the...Full Story »

Solihull returned to winning ways as goals from Joe Sbarra and Danny Newton earned the promotion-chasers a 2-1 home victory over strugglers Aldershot.Five days on from their loss at National League leaders Stockport that had ended a seven-game unbeaten run featuring five wins, Neal Ardley’s Moors took the lead courtesy of Sbarra’s finish in the 37th minute.Andrew Dallas had hit the p...Full Story »

Giovanni van Bronckhorst praised his Rangers side for adapting to Leon Balogun’s first-half red card to beat Motherwell 3-1 at Fir Park.The much-changed visitors took the lead after 14 minutes although it was unclear whether home keeper Liam Kelly had handled into his own net from a Connor Goldson header or if Gers midfielder Scott Wright got the last touch.However, Balogun was shown a str...Full Story »

Luton failed to get the win they needed to all but secure a Sky Bet Championship play-off place after being held to a 1-1 draw by Blackpool.Town went ahead after just two minutes when Kal Naismith released Elijah Adebayo on the right and he cut inside before firing a deflected cross-shot into the bottom corner for his 17th goal of the season.Unbowed, the visitors looked the brighter, Keshi Ander...Full Story »

Huddersfield boss Carlos Corberan refused to talk up his team’s slim chances of automatic promotion following what was a comfortable 2-1 Championship win over Barnsley.On a night when they relegated Barnsley from the second tier, the Terriers booked their place in the top six with a fourth win in five games.Huddersfield are now just a point behind second-placed Bournemouth, but the Cherrie...Full Story »

Barnsley’s three-season stint in the Championship came to an end thanks to a 2-1 defeat at Huddersfield.Carlos Corberan’s Terriers assured themselves of a place in the top six at least, with Barnsley sent tumbling down to League One on the back of just one win in their last 10 games.Huddersfield – who have now won four of their last five – moved to within just a point of ...Full Story »

Bournemouth will be without Junior Stanislas for the rest of the season, including the visit of Fulham on Saturday.The 32-year-old has been dealing with injury problems throughout the campaign, but has been ruled out with a new back issue.Jordan Zemura also remains absent with a hamstring problem.The final squad member unavailable for manager Scott Parker is Keiffer Moore with a foot problem.Ful...Full Story »

Stoke will again be without midfielder Nick Powell for the Sky Bet Championship match against QPR.Powell is closing in on a return from a quad problem which has sidelined him since early March but will not be ready to be involved this weekend.Defender Ben Wilmot, forward Josh Maja and midfielder Romaine Sawyers all came into the side for the 1-0 win at Blackburn on Easter Monday, so should featu...Full Story »