Coventry extended their lead at the top of the Championship to five points after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Sheffield United, while Millwall went third by beating Birmingham City 3-0 on Wednesday.
After a run of two wins in eight games caused Frank Lampard’s men to blow a comfortable advantage in the race for promotion to the Premier League, Coventry have bounced back with three consecutive wins.
Sheffield United also needed a win to remain on the fringes of the fight for a place in the playoffs and led just after half-time through Harrison Burrows.
But two goals in five minutes from Haji Wright and Jack Rudoni turned the game around to edge the visitors closer to a return to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years.
Millwall closed to within four points of second-placed Middlesbrough with a comprehensive win over Birmingham.
Goals from Femi Azeez, Tristan Crama and Jake Cooper put the hosts well on course for the three points before Birmingham’s Jhon Solís was sent off. Birmingham slip to 10th, five points outside the top six, in a blow to their playoff hopes.
Alex Neil, the Millwall manager, said: “We had to be absolutely on it tonight to get a result and I thought we were. We were excellent. The lads took every instruction and did it brilliantly.
“It’s entertaining to watch, high-octane going forward, lots of tackles. That’s what Millwall at the Den should be. I thought we put in one of our best performances.”
Norwich inflicted more pain on already relegated Sheffield Wednesday with a 2-0 win at Carrow Road to climb eight points clear of the drop zone, Mathias Kvistgaarden and Paris Maghoma getting the goals for Philippe Clement’s side.
Elsewhere Stoke beat Oxford United 2-1 to boost their playoff hopes. Lamine Cissé opened the scoring for the hosts before Ciaron Brown levelled on the stroke of half-time, but Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, on loan from Crystal Palace, got his first goal for Stoke to secure all three points. Stoke rise to 13th with 47 points, while Oxford remain mired second-bottom of the table and six points from safety.
Afterwards, Mark Robins, the Stoke manager, heaped praise on Cissé, whose goal was his first in the Championship this season. “He had to wait for a chance at the start of the season because we were playing well. He looks like he is enjoying himself and he took the goal expertly because he had a lot of time to think about it.
“He put them under pressure and stretched their defenders. He was out on his feet at the end. We need someone who is lethal and Lamine’s finish was lethal. So I am pleased for him but we had too many chances going begging.”