Championship round-up

Reading slip into relegation zone, Blackpool remain the surprise

Last updated: 7th November 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Championship round-up

Strachan: Waiting for a win

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Newcastle and West Brom continue to set the pace at the top of the Championship table, while Gordon Strachan is still waiting for a win as Middlesbrough manager.

High-flying Blackpool picked up three points, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City drew, Plymouth's mini revival continued, while Reading and Ipswich could not be separated.

Queens Park Rangers climbed to fourth position and Watford sunk Preston at Vicarage Road.

Chris Hughton's Newcastle continue to appear set for an immediate return to the Premier League as they recorded a 3-1 win over Peterborough, who slipped to the bottom of the table.

Jonas Gutierrez, Andy Carroll and Danny Simpson scored the goals in front of supporters who were protesting against the recent decision to re-name St James' Park, while Dean Keates netted a consolation.

West Brom remain hot on the heels of Newcastle as they also demonstrated their promotion credentials with a 2-1 victory at in-form Leicester City.

The top two have now opened breathing space over the chasing pack after third-placed Cardiff lost an enthralling Welsh derby 3-2 at Swansea in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off.

Strachan lost his first match in charge of Middlesbrough last week and he suffered another setback as Crystal Palace recorded a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park, with Darren Ambrose scoring the only goal of the game.

Blackpool remain the surprise package as they defeated Scunthorpe 4-1 at Bloomfield Road, with the visitors reduced to 10 men after goalkeeper Joe Murphy was sent off for deliberate handball shortly after the hour mark.

Bristol City slipped out of the play-off positions despite grabbing a late 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

Plymouth ruined Strachan's first outing last week and they climbed out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over Doncaster, who had Martin Woods dismissed for two bookings.

Reading remain without a home win as they drew 1-1 with Ipswich at the Madejski Stadium to join Roy Keane's struggling side in the bottom three.

Queens Park Rangers maintained their solid season under Jim Magilton with a 2-1 victory at Sheffield Wednesday as Kaspars Gorkss scored a late winner.

Watford defeated Preston 2-0 at Vicarage Road as Heidar Helguson and Tom Cleverly scored the goals in the first half.