Coventry sink Millwall to consolidate promotion push

Coventry strengthened their lead at the summit of the Championship after securing a gritty 2-1 victory over Millwall on Tuesday evening.

Under Frank Lampard, the team went ahead in the 11th minute as ex-Millwall player Romain Esse forced the ball across the goal line from a tight angle.

This marked Esse's debut strike for Coventry after his January loan move from Crystal Palace.

Millwall, sitting fifth, levelled the scores via Serbian forward Mihailo Ivanovic, who deftly headed in Femi Azeez's delivery in the 28th minute.

However, Ivanovic squandered a prime chance to give Millwall the edge after the break, and Haji Wright tapped home Coventry's decisive goal in the 78th minute following a mishandled cross from Tatsuhiro Sakamoto by the away side.

With this result, Coventry now hold an eight-point advantage at the top in their pursuit of Premier League promotion.

Marvin Ducksch and Kyogo Furuhashi propelled Birmingham to a 2-0 success against Sheffield Wednesday, who unfortunately established a grim milestone for the club.

Ducksch opened the scoring in the 83rd minute, while Furuhashi added a late clincher in added time to give Birmingham their first away league triumph since October.

Sheffield Wednesday, languishing at the foot of the standings, have now endured 21 consecutive league games without a win, surpassing the club's previous longest barren spell and setting a new low for the Championship.

Having suffered a total 18-point deduction due to administration and additional financial issues, Wednesday continue to await confirmation of new ownership.

A group headed by sports data expert James Bord emerged as the favoured applicants last month, although ex-Newcastle proprietor Mike Ashley remains a potential alternative.

Ipswich climbed to second place thanks to Jack Clarke's brace in a 2-0 defeat of Bristol City at Portman Road.

Kieran McKenna's squad sit just one point clear of Middlesbrough in third, who face Stoke away on Wednesday.

West Bromwich Albion find themselves embroiled in a fight against the drop following a 5-0 thrashing by fellow bottom-dwellers Norwich at the Hawthorns.

Oscar Schwartau gave Philippe Clement's Norwich the lead in the 16th minute.

Further strikes in the second period from Ali Ahmed, Anis Ben Slimane, Ben Chrisene, and Mathias Kvistgaarden left Albion reeling from a fourth straight league loss and their eighth defeat in the past 10 outings.

Norwich, third from the bottom, are now only a single point adrift of West Brom.

Derby enhanced their hopes of reaching the play-offs by edging out struggling Charlton 2-1 on the road.