Michael Carrick praised Middlesbrough’s incredible spirit after an impressive 2-1 victory at Championship leaders Leicester ended a four-game winless run.Boro completed a league double over the Foxes after Finn Azaz produced a cool finish into the top left corner from Lewis O’Brien’s square pass to break the deadlock in the 24th minute before Samuel Silvera powered home to double

Bristol Rovers manager Matt Taylor has warned his players to buck up their ideas or risk being sold after Saturday’s 3-1 loss at Northampton.Rovers trailed as early as the third minute at Sixfields through Patrick Brough’s close-range finish, and he then turned provider to set up Mitch Pinnock for a second shortly before half-time.The visitors did rally in the second half and Chris Mar

Coventry manager Mark Robins heaped praise on match-winner Ellis Simms after his side kept themselves in the Sky Bet Championship play-off places with a hard-fought 1-0 win away at struggling Stoke.Simms, a summer signing from Everton, followed up his goal in the 2-2 draw with Plymouth on Wednesday by settling the contest at the Bet365 Stadium.The winner came in the 51st minute when Haji Wright ca

Birmingham manager Tony Mowbray saluted an “amazing achievement” after his team made it two home wins in a week by coming from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1.Koji Miyoshi grabbed an 80th-minute winner after Jordan James cancelled out Jack Clarke’s 22nd-minute lead on the hour.It meant City have recorded their first back-to-back home successes since October and they have climbed to

Derby head coach Paul Warne revealed he is closing in on a deal for Dwight Gayle after his team beat Stevenage 1-0 to boost their automatic promotion hopes in League One.Warne is hoping to sign the 34-year-old former Newcastle striker, with top scorer James Collins set to miss most of the rest of the season with a knee injury.Derby had no recognised striker to call on and it showed as they struggl

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti insisted he has no intention of letting speculation over Kylian Mbappe’s arrival at the club take his focus away from the job at hand.Real are seen as the most likely destination for the French striker, who has informed Paris St Germain he intends to leave in the summer, but Ancelotti was careful not to fan the flames of those rumours.With his side leading th

David Martindale insists he will not get carried away despite Livingston finally ending their long wait for a cinch Premiership victory against St Mirren.Tete Yengi’s goal in added time of the first half was enough for the Lions to claim their first win in 18 league matches.Livi have now cut the gap between themselves and Ross County to just three points, with the teams set to face each othe

Hearts manager Steven Naismith hailed the improvements his players have made to their mentality after watching them beat Motherwell 2-0 to collect an eighth successive win.Second-half goals from Lawrence Shankland and Kenneth Vargas sent the Gorgie side 14 points clear in third place in the Premiership.Hearts have won 11 of their last 12 games in a fruitful spell stretching back to December and Na

Simon Weaver said his Harrogate players came through a “test of their nerve” after they bounced back from a chastening midweek defeat by holding promotion-chasing Crewe.Weaver demonstrated his faith in his players by naming an unchanged side after Tuesday night’s 9-2 thumping at Mansfield.And they responded with a determined showing which nullified Crewe in the first half.Then, w

Crawley boss Scott Lindsey revealed he used a video clip of Southampton manager Russell Martin to help inspire his players ahead of their 2-0 home victory over Forest Green Rovers.In the footage, Martin spoke of the importance of trying to be the most hard working of teams, and Lindsey used it to help get a similar message across as the Red Devils pulled off their first league win in five games.A