Kieran McKenna hailed Ipswich’s defensive display after they beat Blackburn 1-0 to keep their automatic promotion hopes on track.

Ipswich stamped their authority on the game early and were ahead in the ninth minute when Conor Chaplin’s first-time strike squirmed through Aynsley Pears.

Rovers were second best in the first half, though Joe Rankin-Costello had a goal disallowed due to Sammie Szmodics being in an offside position – their second ruled out for offside.

Blackburn’s frustrations continued as Andrew Moran’s goal was disallowed for a Scott Wharton foul, and Ipswich dug in to claim a vital win. After their first Ewood win since 1996, McKenna felt his side displayed both sides of their game.

He said: “Fantastic result, you have to enjoy every win you get in the Championship. The performance was mixed. I thought first half we started ever so well, big credit to the way we came out, especially after international duty, we imposed ourselves really well on the game.

“Gave the opposition problems and controlled most of the first half. Blackburn had a counter-threat and they set up to give us problems through the middle of the pitch so we didn’t have it all our way.

“We came out at the start of the second half and done well. As the second half went on, it became tough. We knew there’d be tiredness in the group, and it became a challenging last 30 minutes. We worked really hard, we defended our box really well, blocked crosses, defended set plays well, blocked shots.

“Didn’t control the game as we would have liked but sometimes you have to show that other side and I thought we did that really well.”

Rovers are winless in nine but John Eustace was proud of his side’s effort and disappointed the disallowed goals didn’t count.

He said: “Frustrated but very proud as well. I thought the effort of the group was outstanding. After the week we’ve had with the injuries and bit of sickness in the camp as well, to have possibly four starters out of the XI, I thought the effort was outstanding.

“We’ve gone up against a very good team and played very well and we’re disappointed not to get anything out of the game.

“I thought the referee had a fantastic view of the goal from Joe. Sammie obviously wasn’t in front of the goalkeeper so I thought that was really disappointing we didn’t have that goal.

“I thought Scott’s header was a fair challenge on the goalkeeper and the offside was tight but we’ve shown very good signs, the team are playing very well. It’s important we don’t get too disappointed about the result. We’ve got to brush ourselves off and go again.”

Barcelona head coach Xavi admits his side face a potential banana skin on Saturday against LaLiga rivals Las Palmas.

Xavi’s team return to action after the international break and are bidding to cut the gap to leaders Real Madrid to five points before their game at home to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Barca are unbeaten in 10 matches in all competitions but, when asked if there was a chance his side could slip up against 11th-placed Las Palmas, Xavi said: “Yes, especially because the (players) are coming back from the national teams.

“I’ve told them to forget about (the pressure). There are two trophies at stake and we’ve been competing very well over the previous two games, with excellent moments of play. It’s a very important match to keep fighting for LaLiga.”

Barca face Paris St Germain on April 10 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final after beating Napoli 4-2 on aggregate in the last 16.

Xavi said he was grateful all his players had returned fit from international duty, adding: “(On Saturday) we play against an opponent that play very good football, they have personality, they don’t give balls away.

“They are a team with very Barca DNA, with technically-gifted players. It will be hard for us to get the ball from them. They come with little to lose and a lot to prove.”

Xavi hinted he will not be resting veterans Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogen, who were involved in both matches for their respective countries Poland and Germany earlier this week.

“I spoke with them (on Thursday) and (Friday) and they feel good. They will be ready for Las Palmas,” he said.

“They have accumulated a lot of minutes, but they will be ready. (Saturday) is not the ideal day to rest and even more so when we have 10 days until the next game.

“We have to get back into club mode. We’ve still got PSG to play. We have to focus on LaLiga because we want to fight for it and we think we can do it. We have to put pressure on Real Madrid.”

Ipswich kept their automatic promotion bid on track after Conor Chaplin’s 13th goal of the season gave them a 1-0 win at Blackburn.

Buoyed by Leicester’s defeat in the early kick-off, Kieran McKenna’s men flew out of the traps and made their early dominance count through Chaplin’s well-worked goal, though Blackburn’s Aynsley Pears ought to have done better.

But this barely told the story of the game as the struggling hosts, still looking for their first win under John Eustace, were more than a match and will feel aggrieved that they had goals in either half contentiously ruled out.

The league’s top scorer Sammie Szmodics missed a glorious chance 11 minutes from time, but Ipswich dug in admirably to notch their eighth win in nine.

Ipswich should have had an early penalty when Callum Brittain tugged Nathan Broadhead back but referee Stuart Atwell waved play on.

They hit the front in the ninth minute when Chaplin sprayed the ball out wide for Leif Davis and ran into the box to meet the defender’s low cross before letting fly with a first-time shot that found the bottom corner, but Pears somehow let the ball squirm through him.

The Tractor Boys did not let up and Kieffer Moore put a near-post header over soon after, while Chaplin fashioned a chance with a silky first touch but his left-foot effort was saved.

Rovers thought they had equalised on the half hour when a flowing move ended with Tyrhys Dolan’s cut-back finding Joe Rankin-Costello who slotted home via a deflection but Szmodics was either adjudged to be obstructing the goalkeeper or deemed to be the one who deflected the ball.

Ipswich came out after the break with renewed purpose and Chaplin hammered a shot into the side netting within 20 seconds of the restart before Pears parried his curling effort a minute later.

Blackburn showed signs of life on the hour when Vaclav Hladky parried a cross into the path of Ben Chrisene but Chaplin got a vital touch before he could pull the trigger, and moments later, Szmodics whipped a first-time shot goalwards that Hladky tipped over the bar.

The home fans were incensed again in the 74th minute when Andrew Moran smashed in off the underside of the bar after Hladcky dropped a cross under pressure from Scott Wharton but the referee deemed it a foul from the Rovers defender.

Hladcky made a terrible error and outstanding save in the same move in the 79th minute as his pass six yards out was blocked by Szmodics but the Czech stopper made a miraculous recovery, diving full stretch to tip the shot wide and Ipswich held on.

Napoli have urged their fans to make themselves heard in the fight against racism during Saturday’s home game against Atalanta.

The Serie A club said earlier in the week that it was “astonishing” that Italy defender Francesco Acerbi was not sanctioned over allegations of racism against their player Juan Jesus.

Inter Milan’s Acerbi was accused of racism towards Jesus in the closing stages of a 1-1 draw earlier this month, with the Napoli defender briefly pausing the match to report the matter to the referee.

But Acerbi will face no further action after Jesus’ claims were dismissed by a Serie A sports judge due to a lack of evidence.

On Friday, Napoli wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “We believe in a world where equality and respect are not just empty illusions but concrete and universally recognised principles.

“For this to happen, we mustn’t stay silent. Tomorrow is the right chance to raise our voices and say NO to racism.”

Acerbi protested his innocence, but agreed to withdraw from the national squad for this week’s games against Venezuela and Ecuador after discussing the matter with manager Luciano Spalletti.

Serie A sports judge Gerardo Mastrandrea considered the case against Acerbi and on Tuesday concluded: “In this case the minimum level of reasonable certainty regarding the discriminatory content of the offence committed is not reached.”

Napoli issued a statement in response saying they found the verdict “astonishing”, adding: “Napoli will no longer take part in anti-racism and anti-discrimination initiatives run by football institutions that are merely symbolic.

“But we will continue to organise them ourselves, as we have always done, with renewed conviction and determination.”

Preston boss Ryan Lowe was delighted to avoid a potential banana skin after a comfortable 3-0 home win over a Rotherham side whose Championship status is hanging by a thread.

North End remain five points behind sixth-placed Norwich in the table, but they have lost just one of their last 10 to keep their play-off hopes alive.

Rock-bottom Rotherham, meanwhile, are now 19 points from safety with only seven matches left, having still not won a match in 2024 and not won at all on their travels this season.

Goals from Duane Holmes and two from Emil Riis just before half-time sealed all three points for Preston, with Lowe pleased at his team’s ability to get the job done.

Lowe, whose side go to struggling Birmingham on Monday, said: “A clean sheet and three points, nobody can ask for anything more than that I don’t think.

“Overall I thought the performance was fantastic.

“At this time it’s just about winning games of football, and we did that comfortably.

“I said to the players before the game that this one had to be about attitude and application, against a team who haven’t really got anything to play for.

“It could have been a potential banana skin, but to be fair to the group, it definitely didn’t turn out like that.

“We were on the front foot pretty much throughout the game, we produced some good passages of play and we scored some good goals.

“I’m pleased with the result and the performance, and so we move on to Easter Monday now and see what that brings.

“It’s all about staying positive, given the position we’re in.”

After a rather pedestrian start at Deepdale, the hosts created the first opportunity when Andrew Hughes pounced on a loose ball in the Millers box, only for his effort to be blocked by keeper Viktor Johansson.

Holmes then celebrated his return to the starting line-up by opening the scoring in the 22nd minute, darting in to coolly convert a cross from Robbie Brady.

With half-time approaching, Preston deservedly doubled their advantage when Riis took a touch from Mads Frokjaer’s cross before slotting past Johansson.

Five minutes later he struck again from close range to make it 3-0.

With the game wrapped up by half-time, the second half was a much quieter affair, with Preston looking the more likely team to score.

Rotherham could now be mathematically relegated on Easter Monday, when they host Millwall, but manager Leam Richardson wants the team to keep battling.

He said: “We know what moment we’re in here, and this club is massively in transition, I think we can all see that.

“But that’s not really what the fans want to hear – I feel for all of our fans right now.

“We’ve all got to represent ourselves and this club much better than we have been doing.

“If you’re not bang at it in this division, if you’re not at 100 per cent all the time, you know you’re going to be in for a tough ride.

“That’s what’s happened here again.

“It’s about me trying to get some confidence into the players and trying my best to give the team some kind of identity. Maybe then we can get better results.

“We certainly don’t want to be going out of this division with a whimper.

“I want everyone to stick together and show a bit more belief and confidence in these final few remaining games of the season.”

Cambridge head coach Garry Monk was full of praise for his players after the 2-0 win at Barnsley which earned him his first win since taking charge.

An own goal from Mael de Gevigney gave struggling Cambridge the lead before Gassan Ahadme sealed a crucial three points.

Monk said: “We’ve had two weeks to work on stuff, for this particular game, and I was interested to see the level of fight that goes with it and I thought we got all of that.

“I was really pleased because the last two weeks we’ve worked extremely hard and when you’re in a moment of low confidence you need something like this, you need a performance like this.

“You need certain things in games to go for you and obviously you need a result, something to build on. In terms of the level of performance, it was much more in the realms of what we were looking for.

“Delighted for the players, obviously the travelling fans. Giving them a good trip home is obviously important, compared to the last couple. So overall, a pleasing day. But we need more. We’ve got a game on Monday, we’ve set the standard today and we need to back this up.”

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins felt his side’s performance did not match with a disappointing defeat for his play-off chasing side.

He said: “The first goal was a freak incident, I think that maybe happens one in a million.

“A misplaced back-pass – I won’t go into too much detail but ultimately it’s a freak. Normally it goes back to the goalkeeper and you play it up the field, you play it out, just today we got punished pretty brutally and it was the last thing we needed.

“Then we went on and we really should really have just put the ball in the net. We missed good chances and when you do that, then you end up with what we got. We got punished again.

“They took the second goal, made it really difficult, so I’m so bitterly disappointed with the result but I think there’s parts of our performances that need to be better.

“Would we have liked to create a little bit more? Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s where we can just do a little bit better individually and collectively – that last ball, that final delivery.

“That’s where we’ve got to be really careful because you can’t say we created any less today than we have in a lot of other victories this year.

“But in the victories we punished those chances, today we didn’t and we got pretty brutally punished at the other end.”

Burton manager Martin Paterson has confidence his side can avoid relegation from League One after taking encouragement from their performance in a 1-1 draw at Wigan.

The Brewers responded well to falling behind to a bizarre Sam Hughes own goal just before half-time and they levelled nine minutes into the second half through John Brayford.

Both sides hit the woodwork – Burton through Joe Hugill and Wigan through Thelo Aasgaard – as honours ended even, leaving Burton one point and one place above the drop zone.

“It was a great point for us, and you could argue we had enough chances to win the game in the second half,” Paterson said.

“It was a crazy goal we conceded, and we did well to react from that. We gave them a goal but we showed great character in the group.

“To come to Wigan and put in a performance like that, I’m looking forward to the next six games.

“We were the better team in the second half, we kept playing, we kept fighting, and I’m confident we will achieve the remit of staying in the division.

“The challenge now is to pick up the results that the performances deserve, because I actually think we deserved to win that game.”

Paterson also played a straight bat when asked about an incident directly after the full-time whistle, when he restrained Hughes, who appeared to be on his way into the away end to confront a Burton fan.

“I don’t want to comment on anything that happened,” he said.

“All I will say is that I make sure my players remain safe at all times.”

Wigan boss Shaun Maloney was not happy with the majority of his side’s performance.

“I liked the last 15-20 minutes,” said Maloney. “The first 70 minutes, I didn’t like.

“I didn’t like the performance, I didn’t like the feeling I got from my team, we just sort of drifted through the first three-quarters of the game.

“I said before the game that Burton were very well organised, they’re hard to break down, and they’re fighting for their lives.

“And there were a few things that happened that make me think we were probably lucky not to lose that game.
“They also hit the post, and every set-play caused us problems.

“I know we hit the bar and we had some good chances at the end but, for large parts of the game, I didn’t like how we played.”

Portsmouth assistant Jon Harley is not focused on promotion despite a 3-1 victory at Wycombe moving the Sky Bet League One leaders closer to the Championship.

Pompey moved 11 points clear of third-placed Bolton following a stylish performance at Adams Park, in which top scorer Colby Bishop scored twice to make it 18 goals for the season.

Eight points from their remaining six games are required for Pompey to seal their return to the second tier after a 12-year absence, with a top-of-the-table clash with Derby to come on Tuesday night.

Harley, in charge on the touchline due to John Mousinho’s ban, said: “I don’t think that (promotion) is something we really want to talk about too much.

“As boring as it sounds, we’ve got a massive game against Derby coming up, so we just focus on that.

“I think if we focus on one game at a time, then the rest will take care of itself.

“Obviously, there is that going on in the back of our minds, we just want to get there as soon as we can and Derby becomes our next focus.

“The gaffer came down at half-time and had a few words and the key message, really, was let’s show some more energy.

“We knew it was going to be a fight in the second half and everyone stood up to it.

“The energy really rose and I think the game got wrapped up and in the last 20 minutes we felt really comfortable.”

Portsmouth led after three minutes when Bishop’s shot went in via a big deflection off Ryan Tafazolli, but Wycombe quickly levelled through Matt Butcher’s assured finish.

Bishop then doubled his tally after 28 minutes by steering in Abu Kamara’s low cross before Christian Saydee made sure of victory midway through the second half.

Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield said: “I felt we weren’t at our best, but we’ve gone pretty close.

“We had a couple of chances when we were 2-1 down – we hit the bar and had another couple of moments and if one of those goes in at 2-2, I really fancy us at home to have a good last half an hour.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be and we had a bit of a sucker punch to go 3-1 down, which took the wind out of our sails a little bit.

“Portsmouth are at the top of the league for a reason.

“They’ve got some good players in forward areas who can hurt you at any moment and in Colby Bishop I think you’ll do well to find a better nine in the league.

“They’ve got some real good players and they’re a benchmark of where we want to get to.”

Former Wales rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit has signed for Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs.

Rees-Zammit, who announced his decision to leave rugby union in January, impressed the Chiefs during his time on the NFL’s international player pathway, with running back and wide receiver his designated positions.

The Chiefs said on their official website: “The Kansas City Chiefs made an international splash on Friday with the addition of former European rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit to the roster.”

The 23-year-old, who visited several NFL franchises, including the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos, said in a video posted by the Chiefs on X that he had “just signed and can’t wait to go”.

Rees-Zammit’s next goal is to win a place on the Chiefs’ final roster for the new season, joining their star players like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce in targeting a third successive Super Bowl.

The former Gloucester, Wales and British and Irish Lions wing stunned the world of rugby in January by quitting the sport in an attempt to secure a contract with an NFL team in 2024.

That dream moved a step closer when he impressed during last week’s pro day that forms part of the international player pathway.

The Chiefs added: “Rees-Zammit participated in the international player pathway program workout earlier this month, which provided the former rugby star with an opportunity to show NFL scouts what he could do.

“His workout included a 4.44-second 40-yard dash, which would have ranked fifth among tailbacks at the 2024 NFL scouting combine.”

Coventry boss Mark Robins has challenged forwards Ellis Simms and Haji Wright to hit the 20-goal mark following their fine 3-1 victory at Huddersfield.

Simms continued his stellar form in front of goal, hitting a first-half brace to put Coventry in control at the John Smith’s Stadium.

The former Everton frontman has now notched 12 goals in his past nine outings across all competitions.

With 11 minutes left, substitute Rhys Healey pulled a goal back for Huddersfield but Wright made the points safe for the visitors deep into added on time. Both Simms and Wright have registered 16 goals so far this season.

Robins said: “It’s good and they will be pushing to get to the 20-goal mark.

“There are enough games in the season for them to do that and I think that’s a realistic target for them both. It’s there for them.

“Their team-mates are creating chances for them. They are being positive. Hopefully we can keep doing the same and keep getting them into good positions to give them opportunities to score.

“There is friendly rivalry between them (Simms and Wright). It is good to see and the confidence is there.

“They know they are going to score and that’s the level you need to get to as a striker.

“They know they are going to hit the target; they will miss some but, more often than not, they are making good decisions.

“The talent is there for everybody to see and they’ve just got to keep going.”

It is now five matches without a win for Huddersfield as their relegation fears grow.

With seven games left to play, they currently occupy the final spot in the drop zone on goal difference.

Head coach Andre Breitenreiter said: “We had a good start. We had the best chance in the first 15 minutes with Josh Koroma.

“We should take the lead. We need more quality in the final third.

“They scored out of nothing. We were the second winner in every duel.

“We didn’t win enough individual duels in the first half and we spoke about that at half-time.

“Some players didn’t show their best performance today. I made substitutions and they did well and it changed in the second half. They did a great job.

“We knew one goal could change many things. We played more bravely and offensively.

“We then scored after the substitutions and we had the supporters behind us.

“You need a little bit of luck. We tried everything. It was very close in the end.”

Despite their precarious position, Breitenreiter remains confident Huddersfield can stave off the threat of relegation.

“I see the potential and the quality but we have to show the quality to finish and defend the goal,” he added.

“We have to stay together and fight together for survival. We, as a coaching staff, have to do our job.”

Ian Evatt claimed his Bolton side looked fearful after a goalless draw at Stevenage left them six points adrift of the League One automatic promotion places.

Both sides had their chances to snatch a win, with Will Forrester smacking the crossbar for Wanderers in the first half and Boro’s Ben Thompson slipping late on when he looked set to punish Ricardo Santos’ sloppy pass.

The stalemate saw Wanderers slip further away from the automatic spots with six games remaining and Bolton manager Evatt was left concerned at how tentative his team were at Stevenage.

“We looked a fearful team,” he said.

“I thought we looked like we were afraid to lose and the type of team we want to be is fearless and forward-thinking.

“It had a feeling that it was ours to lose but at the minute it isn’t ours to lose, it is somebody else’s. There is no given right but it was an important point.”

As the season approaches its climax, Evatt is aware that the margin for error gets slimmer even though they have a game in hand on second-place Derby, with Reading next up on Monday.

He added: “These players are playing under huge pressure.

“We want to leave the excuses and go out and perform and it felt like we were petrified of giving something away.

“There is an opportunity and it is still wide open, we have to be the fearless team I want us to be.”

Stevenage forced Bolton into errors and Thompson had an opportunity to snatch victory after Jordan Roberts intercepted Santos’ pass, but the midfielder lost his footing as he shot.

The point meant that Stevenage’s winless run extended to six games, but Steve Evans is keen for his side to live in the moment as they fight Oxford and Lincoln for the last play-off spot.

Evans said: “We had the difficult game of the weekend. We had Bolton Wanderers. I thought Lincoln would win and they did, and I thought Oxford United would win at Shrewsbury (they drew).

“We head to the Valley and if someone said to me four weeks ago, four months ago, two years ago, Stevenage are going to go to Charlton on Easter Monday and are fighting for the play-offs in League One, it wouldn’t be thinkable.

“We are here on merit, we have good players. You can see how our club is run compared to other clubs in this league.

“So, from our point of view, we have a fantastic structure, we are in a fantastic place and we are really embracing every minute of this.”

Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl said his side were not ruthless enough at both ends of the pitch as they drew 1-1 with Swansea at Hillsborough on Good Friday.

Jamal Lowe’s second-half goal cancelled out Bailey Cadamarteri’s opener and the Owls missed several golden opportunities in the second half to win the game. The point sees them remain in the relegation zone.

Rohl said: “We will take the point. In our situation every point is important. We are disappointed because in the second half we created so many chances.

“We conceded, for me, what was a goal too easily given away from the corner. This week we spoke about getting the basics right and running for each other. I feel we did this today and if we continue like this we give ourselves a big chance.

“There was a handball for Swansea’s equaliser and it was a clear foul on Ike (Ugbo) so we should have had a penalty. This is disappointing but we will not use it as an excuse. We weren’t ruthless enough in both boxes.

“We went right until the end to try and get a winner. The atmosphere was fantastic, the fans really pushed us on the pitch and I think we should take the positives from this game.

“If someone had told me in September we would be this close to getting over the line I would take it. We are close because of how well we have done in the last weeks.

“It’s frustrating we haven’t come away with the win but now we’re only in the bottom three on goal difference. On Monday we have another big game at Middlesbrough and we will be going there to win.”

Swansea manager Luke Williams said he knows his players have enough to stay in the Championship but they must show more consistency.

Williams said: “In the first half I thought we controlled the game quite well. Our intensity was excellent.

“We created anxiety for Wednesday and their fans but we didn’t really make enough clean actions to score a goal.

“It’s frustrating to concede from a set-piece. I don’t like to talk about referees but Ronald was wrongly called offside in a promising position for us which led to the free-kick for their goal.

“The second half was like a basketball game. We wanted to try and win – we didn’t want to just settle for a point so it was end to end.

“In the last 20 minutes they caused us many problems which got the crowd up and we struggled to cope. I’d have preferred three but I’m happy with a point.

“I’ve got no problem with the effort from the players at all. We just weren’t able to impose ourselves on the game for long enough to get the victory.

“I know we have enough to stay in the division, I’m more concerned about the level of consistent performance. I want the fans who’ve travelled a long way to see we’re making progress.

“We’re not looking over our shoulders, we’re in a decent place. We got a point at Watford and now here and these are difficult places to go. Now we look ahead to QPR on Monday where we have a huge responsibility to make it enjoyable for our fans.”