Blackburn Rovers 3-3 Nottingham Forest
Gary Bowyer was fuming after his side lost the lead three times – Forest’s Michail Antonio making it 3-3 on 88 minutes after Rudy Gestede had completed a hat-trick. Bowyer said: “If I was Rudy I’d be absolutely fuming with my team-mates. To score late and be 3-2 up, that’s when you need people to stand up and see the game out. That’s what we need in the summer.” Forest’s Dougie Freedman said: “It was a great advertisement for the Championship. I just have to get some more ingredients in to make sure, in both boxes, we’re better.”
Brentford 2-2 Bolton Wanderers
Mark Warburton is predicting “more twists and turns” in the playoff race after seeing his Brentford side drop points for the fourth game in a row. “Perhaps the players wanted to force it too much. But we can still get 78 points, and if we do, who knows what might happen.” Neil Lennon was happy with the point after two of his players, Neil Danns and Barry Bannan, were sent home the night before after a disturbance at their hotel. “I’m disappointed with them and they’ve been suspended. But I’m in a good mood today, so we’ll see how long it’s for.”
Watford 1-0 Birmingham City
Slavisa Jokanovic was keen to focus on his Watford side’s performance rather than the favourable results elsewhere that sent them top. “This competition is very tough and complicated and we found the same today, so I must be happy with our performance, I must be proud with how we played.” Gary Rowett was reflective after the defeat. “Our aim was to come and stifle them a little bit – that’s the way we’ve played since I’ve come in. We hung on in, we were resilient, we kept going, and we showed excellent character.”
Huddersfield Town 4-4 Derby County
Steve McClaren revealed he wants to keep Tom Ince at Derby next season after the on-loan winger’s double sealed a thrilling 4-4 draw. “If we hadn’t got Tom and others in January we wouldn’t be in the top six. I haven’t spoken to Steve Bruce but we would like to keep him.” McClaren called it a “crazy game … for the neutrals it was great, for the managers it was a nightmare, and for the fans it had ups and downs.” Chris Powell said: “It was a terrific performance at times but Derby were really clinical. My keeper didn’t have a save to make.”
And the rest
Wolves kept their play-off hopes alive after coming from behind to draw 1-1 at home with Ipswich via a Benik Afobe equaliser – the visitors now three points ahead in sixth. ■ Fulham took a huge step towards survival with a 1-0 win at relegated Blackpool thanks to Matt Smith’s eighth-minute header. It leaves them nine points clear of third-bottom Millwall, who earned a point in a dour 0-0 draw at Cardiff. Blackpool are without a win in 16 and still need a point to equal the lowest tally posted since the second tier became 24 teams in 1988. ■ Goals from Tim Chow and James Perch ensured Wigan live to fight another day – a 2-1 win over Brighton leaving them five points behind Rotherham in the last safe spot.
