Championship
• The day's big winners at the top were Nigel Pearson's Leicester City, who were the only one of the trio of sides pulling away at the top to avoid defeat. While Burnley were beaten at Huddersfield and QPR lost at Doncaster, the Foxes thumped Millwall 3-0 at the King Power Stadium, opening up a three-point gap at the summit. QPR's loss means their indifferent run now extends to two wins in seven, while the Clarets are without a win in four, with the 2-1 reverse in Yorkshire coming on the back of three successive draws.
• So just when the season looked to be developing into a three-horse promotion race, Blackpool moved back to within four points of the leading trio with a 2-0 home win over struggling Sheffield Wednesday, with Dan Gosling and Riccardo Fuller scoring the goals. The defeat means Wednesday have lost three on the bounce since getting their first league win of the season against Reading at the beginning of the month.
• The Owls are kept off the bottom by Barnsley, who were well beaten at home by fellow strugglers Birmingham. It was the final straw for the Oakwell board – Barnsley manager David Flitcroft was given the boot barely an hour after full time.
• One of the surprises of the day came at Vicarage Road where Yeovil, who began the day rock bottom, thumped play-off chasing Watford 3-0. Though it's fair to say that the Hornet's play-off chase has become more of an amble into mid-table of late. Since the end of September (when Watford sat fourth), Gianfranco Zola's side have picked up five points from eight games. Both Zola and Wednesday's Dave Jones have a nervous week ahead.
• Elsewhere, Blackburn put the brakes on Leeds's charge towards the play-offs with a 1-0 win at Ewood Park, and Bolton's resurgence stuttered with a 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough.
League One
• The clash between two of the division's big beasts ended in something of a surprise. Having threatened to take the division by storm with six successive wins in September and October, Peterborough had lost five on the bounce ahead of the visit of Wolves to London Road on Saturday. But it was Posh who beat Kenny Jackett's league leaders thanks to Michael Bostwick's 79th-minute goal.
• Sheffield United almost pulled off one of the shocks of the day at Leyton Orient (14 words which themselves tell you something about both the progress of the Os and the Blades in the past 12 months or so) but a late Dean Cox equaliser was enough to give the home side a draw at Brisbane Road. The point earned was enough to take Russell Slade's side pack to the top of the table on goal difference.
• Preston closed the gap on the top two, with their 10th win in 15 games. Managerless Bristol City had no answer to Jack King's first-half goal and the Robins are now second-bottom, having been leapfrogged by Crewe. Chuks Aneke gave Alexandra their first win since mid October with the only goal against Crawley.
• After munching up their 10-point deduction and then marching their way towards the play-offs Coventry City seemed to have come off the boil in dramatic fashion of late. The Sky Blues had conceded 11 goals in their past three games – a 3-3 draw with Bradford, which was followed by a 5-1 and 3-0 home defeats to Tranmere and Rotherham – but they were back on song today with a 3-1 victory at Milton Keynes Dons. Chris Maguire, on his debut following a loan move from Sheffield Wednesday, scored free-kicks in the 86th and 90th minutes to seal the points.
• In hoodoo-busting news Port Vale did something they have not done in 26 attempts since 1947 – win at Walsall.
League Two
• It was 1st v 5th at Highbury Stadium as the league leaders Oxford visited Fleetwood. The home side seemed set to leapfrog their opponents but a 89th-minute Dave Kitson equaliser gave United a share of the spoils. There's a chance the game could have been Chris Wilder's last as United manager – Portsmouth have apparently made an approach (although swapping the top of the table for its lower reaches would be an odd move …)
• It was a day of draws at the top of the bottom tier, with neither Southend nor Rochdale able to take advantage of the result on the Lancashire coast. Southend, who began the day third, were held to a draw by Cheltenham thanks to a last-minute Matt Richards penalty, while Rochdale could only draw 0-0 at York. The big winners of the weekend, then, could by Chesterfield, who visit Newport County on Sunday.
• During the week, Scunthorpe had asked their fans not to come dressed as squirrels for their home game Alan Knill's return with Torquay (for a full explanation click here). As yet there is no news on squirrel numbers at Glanford Park, but the Iron faithful – whether in rodent attire or otherwise – had a 3-1 win to celebrate. The win takes them fourth. Remarkably the top seven in League Two are now separated by only two points.
• Knill's Torquay are now rock bottom thanks to Northampton's 1-0 win over Accrington. That scoreline coupled with Bristol Rovers' 3-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon means the Gulls are in danger of getting cut adrift at the foot of the table.
