Liam Manning joked that he had aged ten years watching his City team defend for their lives to beat impressive Sunderland in the Sky Bet Championship.Tommy Conway’s 20th-minute penalty, after Taylor Gardner-Hickman was tripped by Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, proved enough to settle a hugely competitive game at Ashton Gate.Play-off hopefuls Sunderland dominated for long periods of

Matt Taylor hopes Bristol Rovers can build on their Sky Bet League One victory at 10-man Bolton.Taylor’s troops were in cruise control, leading 2-0 at half-time through John Marquis and Antony Evans and with Wanderers reduced to 10 men after skipper Ricardo Santos’ red card.Gas had to survive a nervy finale as Eoin Toal’s late deflected goal gave the hosts’ hopes of pulling

Wrexham beat struggling Colchester 2-1 to remain in the top three in League Two despite playing for more than an hour with 10 men.Wrexham took a fourth-minute lead through former Colchester loanee Elliot Lee, who fired home at the second attempt from eight yards after his first shot had been blocked by Zach Mitchell, following Ben Tozer’s long throw into the box.But the Reds were reduced to

Ryan Lowe bemoaned Preston’s “Jekyll and Hyde” performance as they shipped four second-half goals in a 5-1 Championship defeat at home to Watford.Will Keane gave the Lilywhites an early lead but Vakoun Bayo levelled just before half-time, precipitating the hosts’ collapse.Bayo, Matheus Martins, Edo Kayembe and Ismael Kone all struck after the break to earn Watford a second

Brendan Rodgers felt compelled to apologise to the Celtic fans for the first time after a performance as he admitted his side lacked desire in a 2-0 home defeat by Hearts.A free header from Lawrence Shankland and Stephen Kingsley’s 25-yard free-kick put Hearts two ahead inside 30 minutes and there was little sign of a Celtic comeback as they fell to consecutive league defeats for the first t

Russell Martin hailed his “relentless” Southampton side for finally blowing apart a Championship rival after thrashing 10-man Blackburn 4-0.Samuel Edozie, Stuart Armstrong, Sekou Mara and Carlos Alcaraz all netted as Saints continued their best unbeaten run for 39 years and made it five home victories in a row.Southampton’s single-digit goal difference and early-season slump had

Stephen Robinson jumped to the defence of Mark O’Hara after the St Mirren skipper missed a second-half penalty in the goalless draw with Motherwell.O’Hara had his spot-kick parried away by Liam Kelly shortly after half-time, and the Buddies then survived a number of close-calls as the visitors failed to take advantage of four one-on-one opportunities.St Mirren slipped to fourth in the

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson admitted to a “strange old mix of emotions” after his side’s dramatic 2-2 draw with Northampton.Goals from Jack Armer and Ryan Edmondson, who scored his first of the season, looked to have set the Cumbrians on their way to a first league win for almost two months following Shaun McWilliams’ opener for the visitors.But Kieron Bowie’s dramatic

Daniel Farke was a frustrated manager after his promotion-chasing Leeds side were held to a 1-1 draw by mid-table Coventry at Elland Road.Second-placed Ipswich’s 2-2 draw at Norwich in the early kick-off had presented Leeds with the chance to close the gap on the Championship’s automatic promotion places.Farke said: “My feelings are disappointment and frustration. When you win a

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho was full of praise for two-goal Norwich loanee after his side win 3-0 at Shrewsbury to further consolidate their position at the summit of Sky Bet League One.The success means Pompey remain undefeated on their travels in the league this campaign, giving them a seven-point cushion over second-placed Peterborough.Kamara opened the scoring for the visitors on the stroke