Round-up:
In Friday night's match, Norwich City kept their lead at the top of the Championship with a somewhat unconvincing 1-0 win over Swansea City thanks to a goal from Emi Buendia, making it four consecutive wins for German Daniel Farke's side.
Saturday's 2 early kick-off involved two local derbies, one in Lancashire and one in Yorkshire. The one in Lancashire involved two teams in contrasting form, Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End, with Preston North End coming out on top thanks to a goal from Daniel Johnson in the 8th minute, despite a 90th-minute sending off for Darnell Fisher, a result which means Preston North End are unbeaten in their last 10 consecutive matches, so much so that their last defeat came on New Year's Day. The Yorkshire derby involved high-flying Sheffield United and struggling Rotherham United, with Sheffield United coming out on top after beating Rotherham 2-0 thanks to goals from Jack O'Connell and Mark Duffy, who played for over an hour in 10 men after Will Vaulks got sent off. Leeds United remained in that second automatic promotion spot after edging Bristol City 1-0 thanks to a 9th minute goal from Patrick Bamford. West Bromwich Albion and bottom side Ipswich Town shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw, after Stefan Johansen's early goal for West Brom was cancelled out by Jon Nolan - it's a result which has also cost manager Darren Moore his job at West Bromwich Albion (more about that will feature in another article later on). Brentford made it 4 wins in their last 5 League games after coming from behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1 thanks to an own goal from Ryan Shotton and a goal from Said Benrahma after Ashley Fletcher had given Middlesbrough the lead inside just 6 minutes. Derby County failed to really take advantage of both Middlesbrough and Bristol City losing, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Sheffield Wednesday who remain unbeaten under Steve Bruce's management - though Derby County did at least leapfrog Bristol City into the play-off positions, albeit Bristol City have a game in hand to play. Nottingham Forest gave their promotion play-off hopes a massive boost after beating Hull City 3-0 to dent the Tigers' chances of making it into the play-offs, thanks to goals from Joao Carvalho, Karim Ansarifard and a penalty by Joe Lolley. Queens Park Rangers and Stoke City played out a goalless draw in a match which saw both teams reduced to 10 men. Down at the bottom, Reading gave their survival hopes a massive boost after beating Wigan Athletic 3-2 in a dramatic finish after scoring 2 goals in injury time to win the game, meaning Reading are now level with Wigan Athletic in the table. Also, in another significant game down at the bottom, Bolton Wanderers kept their survival hopes alive after beating Millwall 2-1 thanks to goals from Pavel Olkowski and Gary O'Neil, with Lee Gregory bagging a consolation for Millwall.
Results:
Friday
Norwich City 1 Swansea City 0
Saturday
Blackburn Rovers 0 Preston North End 1
Sheffield United 2 Rotherham United 0
Bolton Wanderers 2 Millwall 1
Bristol City 0 Leeds United 1
Derby County 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1
Middlesbrough 1 Brentford 2
Nottingham Forest 3 Hull City 0
Queens Park Rangers 0 Stoke City 0
Reading 3 Wigan Athletic 2
West Bromwich Albion 1 Ipswich Town 1