Lincoln head coach Michael Skubala praised his side’s intensity as they secured an emphatic 5-1 victory over promotion-chasing Barnsley at Oakwell.

Joe Taylor opened the scoring before Jack Moylan (2), Daniel Mandriou and Jovon Makama added second-half goals.

Adam Phillips pulled one back for the hosts, but they could not push for a comeback.

Skubala said: “We started the game really well; we started the game really bright. Our press was a little bit different to try and deal with Barnsley’s way of playing.

“I thought second half we were bang on.

“What pleased me today was, the whole team was connected. We were really good out of possession, we were aggressive when we needed to be aggressive, we didn’t give second balls up.

“Our energy and intensity was a little bit too much for them.”

On the performance of Mandriou, Skubala said: “Daniel Mandriou is a good player. We’ve had to play him a little bit lower, but again we trust him with what to do.

“Another player that’s been out the team for a bit, not getting the minutes he wants.

“He came on today and I thought he did a brilliant job.”

On the goals his side scored, Skubala said: “Good goals, I’m really pleased with all the goals. All the goals were good finishes.

“What’s really pleasing is we took our chances. We feel like sometimes we’re getting into the final third and we just need a bit more quality.

“But today I thought they showed the quality in the final third which is brilliant.”

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins admitted it was a poor performance from his team.

He said: “It probably doesn’t take rocket science to work out that the majority, if not all of our team, were way below the standards they’ve set.

“I should stress that the players have been fantastic this season, they’ve taken a lot of plaudits and rightfully so.

“But today there were just so many that fell below the levels and made individual, basic errors that were capitalised on by a very good side, who are in a very good moment.

“The scoreline was a combination of things and the biggest one just being that we had too many players being way below par.

“When you make mistakes and you get punished by goals then you take it out of your hands.

“We started poorly, went behind. But then from that point on we looked ourselves, looked like we were getting into great positions.

“But you just can’t legislate when you’re already 1-0 down to make the mistakes that we did for the second and third goal.

“There’s no question that we made it an awful lot easier for them and we don’t normally make it easy for teams.”

Paul Hurst voiced his relief as his Shrewsbury side propelled themselves seven points clear of the League One drop zone with a 2-1 victory at Port Vale.

Town took an early lead through Dan Udoh and doubled their tally early in the second half when Tom Bloxham struck.

Teenager Baylee Dipepa hit his first professional goal to reduce arrears, but it proved too little too late for Darren Moore’s strugglers.

“I’m relieved more than anything,” said Hurst, whose side had suffered back-to-back defeats before this confidence-boosting win.

“We were 2-0 up and gave away a poor goal. You can’t leave a player unmarked in the area. We made the end of the game a lot more nervy than it needed to be.

“We knew Port Vale would come at us. They had a response first half so we expected it.

“We got a second goal and knew they wouldn’t give up. But we certainly made the end of the game more nervy than it needed to be.

“I don’t think that we gave too many chances away from a lot of things.

“Marko (Marosi) made three really big saves from memory and he was credit as to why we went in ahead at half-time.

“He’s done very well since I’ve come to the club. An experienced keeper and seems to enjoy the big moments. He delivered some of those today.

“It was nice to go ahead early because it’s something we’ve worked on and identified.

“From where I was I thought it had gone in but there was a delayed reaction. It’s something we’ve worked on so I was delighted.”

Vale, who have not won so far in 2024, are seven points adrift of safety with time running out.

Boss Moore said: “It’s a hurdle we have to overcome. No matter how you dress it up, it’s been a mental thing with us in terms of conceding early and then taking a backwards step and giving ourselves a mountain to climb.

“As the game goes on, we grow into it. That was a disappointment because when you concede a goal very early it can shift the momentum of the game.

“We were holding on in the first half, we showed more impetus and got into the game in the second half.

“We had chances to go and win the match. It’s a small positive that we got the chances to go and win the game.

“We’re not talking about Vale not having chances to score. As long as that continues I believe the players we’ve got will score.

“On the flip side we need to show more concentration, togetherness, to make sure at all costs from set plays we get the first contacts and defend the second phases better until the ball’s out of the danger zone.”

Tottenham loanee Japhet Tanganga is turning himself into a hero under Millwall manager Neil Harris after his late header snatched a crucial victory over fellow Sky Bet Championship strugglers Birmingham.

It was a second goal in Lions colours for Tanganga, 24, who scored the first goal of his senior career in Harris’ first game back in charge at Southampton two weeks ago.

Millwall have now won three of their four games under Harris, who has quickly turned around their form to open up a five-point gap between them and the relegation zone.

Harris said: “Japh’s got great pedigree, he’s got a great CV in terms of games at the top level and playing in Europe, and things like that.

“It’s slightly different here for a centre-half and sometimes you have to be a different player here, and the reason I’m at the football club is to try and teach the players what a Millwall player looks like, whether that’s a goalkeeper or a centre-half or a centre-forward.

“All I said to Japh was – not complicated his game – just to make your decisions and I’ll support you, but you can be as aggressive as you like.

“A couple of his tackles were a little bit dubious here against Watford and away at Southampton in the first five minutes, but he shows that he’s buying into it.

“Ultimately, he’s headed the ball a lot (in both boxes) and to be a good Millwall centre-half you have to do that.”

Millwall started the better side, with Birmingham goalkeeper John Ruddy having to make good saves to deny George Honeyman and Jake Cooper in the first 20 minutes.

Jay Stansfield was then denied by Matija Sarkic just before half-time and hit a great chance wide early in the second half.

He then felt he should have been awarded a penalty after 63 minutes when Millwall’s Joe Bryan appeared to hold him back from Juninho Bacuna’s corner.

The Lions wildly celebrated when their winner came in the 90th minute as Tanganga rose to head in George Saville’s corner.

Birmingham remain only one point above the bottom three and caretaker boss Mark Venus has just one point from four games since taking the reins after manager Tony Mowbray temporarily stepped aside for medical reasons.

Venus, whose side could drop below third-from-bottom Huddersfield if they beat West Brom on Sunday, said on the Blues’ penalty shout: “I don’t want to sit here and pick holes in officials.

“They are what they are in this country and I’m sure everyone has their own opinion of them.

“Everyone has their own opinion of what happened, the incident, and they can make their own mind up.

“I think in the second half we got on top.

“I think in the first half we were too timid, we didn’t influence, we didn’t hurt their goal enough and I think in the second half we had a lot more purpose, more intensity.

“We took the game to them and we had some opportunities to hit the target, to score, to shoot, and we squandered them, really.

“I think they’ve got the stomach for the fight – they showed that in the second half.

“I think they just have to learn to do the basics a bit better and learn to make the right decisions.”

Plymouth head coach Ian Foster felt his side ‘dominated from start to finish’ in their 1-1 Sky Bet Championship draw at 10-man Blackburn.

Rovers’ Sammie Szmodics took his league goal tally to 21 with a sublime curling opener in the seventh minute but the home side were second best thereafter.

Their task was made harder when Kyle McFadzean was sent off for a professional foul early in the second half and Plymouth deservedly equalised through Morgan Whittaker’s close range 74th-minute finish, taking his own league tally to 18.

The goals and dismissal barely tell the story. Despite Arnor Sigurdsson striking the post in the first half, it was Argyle who created the best chances with Ryan Hardie and Bali Mumba both missing when one-on-one, while Mickel Miller and Hardie again both went agonisingly close.

Foster felt the point was “the very least we deserved” although it is now just one win in seven matches for the Pilgrims, who are three points clear of danger.

He said: “A lot of people will look at the game, see the result, see the sending off and think we’ve only scored because they’ve been reduced to 10 men.

“Before their goal and after their goal, we’ve dominated the game, literally from start to finish.

“The whole 95 minutes we’ve been the team on top – 20 shots away from home, our xG is through the roof and the only disappointment that we go away with is that we haven’t converted all those chances, or some of them.

“I’m really proud of the players. We picked the team today to dominate the ball. We felt that we could here and we did that – 66 per cent I think in the first half.

“I’ve never witnessed a team 1-0 up at half-time getting booed off. (It’s a) quite unique thing to see and hear but that just shows you the dominance we had in the first 45 minutes.

“No halves are ever the same but the players continued to knock on the door and we eventually got what we deserved.

“We’re all that little bit disappointed to come away with just the one point.”

Blackburn remain level on points with Plymouth and are yet to win under John Eustace, who praised his team’s character after playing more than half an hour with 10 men.

Eustace said: “I thought we started the game really well, played some really good football, scored a fantastic goal, had a great chance to go 2-0 up which we didn’t take unfortunately.

“Plymouth then had a couple of good chances themselves. We came in at half-time, adjusted a couple of things, started the second half quite well and obviously going down to 10 men, it’s a different game.

“I thought the character the group showed, the togetherness, the fight not to lose the game was very evident for everyone to see.

“I think the way the boys defended, fought, scrapped, and stuck together against a good attacking team and limited them to hardly anything really second half – they had pressure but no real clear-cut chances, maybe one. But we still had a couple of half-chances ourselves.

“The big positives to take out of the game…the way the group really stuck together and fought. You can see the fight is there that we want to stay in this league.”

Ryan Lowe hopes his Preston side will take their shock 2-1 home defeat to Championship strugglers Stoke as a wake-up call in the Lilywhites’ fight for the play-offs.

A second-half own goal from Andrew Hughes, plus Luke McNally’s late winner were scored either side of substitute forward Milutin Osmajic’s equaliser for the hosts, ending the Lancashire club’s seven-game unbeaten run and leaving them in ninth – five points from the top six.

The former Plymouth manager was particularly disappointed with the nature of the two goals conceded, with the first coming about through a vicious left-sided cross from Lynden Gooch and the second arising after a defensive mix-up which allowed McNally to tap in from point-blank range.

Lowe said: “It was tough because we were nowhere near the levels that we’ve been at.

“We knew Stoke were going to come and fight and they obviously changed shape to nullify us and stop us from playing. We were flat. We weren’t on the level we’ve been at during the last few weeks.

“Maybe that will give us a kick up the backside. You can’t give teams like Stoke, who are fighting for their lives, opportunities to score goals.

“I just don’t want the season to fizzle out. I want us to keep pushing.

“There are some good teams in around us. I know how tough the Championship is, but I want to give the lads a chance to stay in and around the top spots.

“The points that we’ve got are excellent and hopefully this can give us a bit of a kick up the backside, so we don’t get too carried away.

“We need to get a result against Plymouth now before the international break.”

In the other dugout, another former Plymouth boss in Steven Schumacher was delighted with his team’s performance in blustery conditions.

The travelling Potters began the game third-bottom but came racing out of the blocks to put the hosts on the backfoot almost immediately.

Yet supporters had to wait until the second half for their strong showing to represent itself on the scoresheet, with McNally’s 87th-minute winner meaning Stoke rise to 19th in the table and three points clear of the drop zone.

Schumacher said: “It’s an important win. We’ve had a good week actually with a really good performance against Leeds on Tuesday where we could have got a point.

“To come here today and take all three points is a really good achievement because we were up against a really good team who are in excellent form, so yeah it was a battle.

“It wasn’t the prettiest of games, but with that pitch and the style of game it was going to be, it doesn’t matter.

“Getting the win is all that matters. This result can give everyone a bit of confidence and belief. It’s huge to be out of the bottom three.

“Everyone understands that there are so many teams down there fighting for their lives.

“We need to back that up now in the next game against Norwich and see if we can get a result there, because every point is going to be crucial.”

Whiskeywealth took a successful step up to Listed level to land the Holden Plant Rentals Shamrock Handicap Chase at Gowran.

The eight-year-old, who was fourth behind Jonbon on his final point-to-point start, won a two-mile Naas handicap last time out.

That run was a return to form after he disappointed in the Grade Three Dan & Joan Moore Memorial Handicap Chase the time before, finishing eighth in a field of 11.

This time he was the 5-2 favourite under 7lb claimer John Shinnick and ran his race towards the front of the field, sticking to the task resolutely on the run in to claim a length-and-three-quarters victory.

“He was very disappointing in the Dan Moore. I thought I’d got it wrong and he wasn’t good enough but I’d say he hit a flat spot on the day,” O’Brien said.

“Today was a bit lower class but he did it well. He was in great form coming here and I was hoping he’d run a good race.

“He’s been very consistent, and we’re delighted to get a good pot. He was due to run in this race last year, but he scoped wrong a couple of days beforehand.

“He’s still improving and that was a career best over fences.”

Port Joulain made the perfect start to his career under rules when cantering home in the “Doc’s Bumper” INH Flat Race.

The five-year-old is trained by Willie Mullins and was purchased for £300,000 for Rich Ricci after a six-length pointing win.

Under Patrick Mullins he was the 11-8 favourite to score at the first time of asking for new connections and he duly did so, finding the contest light work when triumphing by two and quarter lengths from Henry de Bromhead’s Good N’ Kind with the rest of the field strung out behind them.

“He was on my Cheltenham Bumper team but I couldn’t get him ready in time, so I put him by for this race and I’m very pleased with him,” said the winning trainer.

“We’ll probably have a look at a winners bumper at the big festivals.”

Mullins had earlier been on the mark with Aime Desjy (2-7 favourite) in the Holden Fleet Management Beginners Chase and Annamix (9-2) in the INHSC Supporting Point-To-Points Tetratema Cup Hunters Chase, demonstrating the yard’s fine form heading into the Cheltenham Festival.

Mullins added: “The first load of horses have left for Cheltenham and the last ones were on the gallop this morning. All the work is done now and we’ll see how the ball bounces now for the rest of the week.”

Oxford boss Des Buckingham hailed his side’s late 2-1 victory over struggling Cheltenham as a “much-needed win” for his play-off-chasing side.

Greg Leigh headed the winner in the 87th minute from a fine cross by Owen Dale.

Josh Murphy had fired the hosts in front in first-half stoppage time, but the Robins equalised in the 80th minute through Will Ferry.

Buckingham said: “We’ve come away with a much-needed win, points on the board at an important time of the year.

“It took us until the 87th minute to get there, but we got there in the end.

“Cheltenham are a very difficult team to play against. They play with five at the back and have got four in midfield – sometimes you have to be patient and do things a lot quicker.

“I thought the last 10 or 15 minutes of the first half we came good, got the goal and lost a bit of control of the game but regained it and got what I thought was a deserved winner.

“I wouldn’t like to play against Owen (Dale). He works tirelessly the whole game. He’s one of the few players I have seen in this league who is able to dribble at pace. He’ll invariably get past you and today he put two or three decent balls into the box.

“And Greg arrived on the back of another cross and scored the second time. He should probably have scored with the first one just before, though that was a very good save.

“Owen was very good, but when you’ve got Josh Murphy on the other side too it just mixes things up.

“We’ve been trying to get Greg Leigh into more advanced areas. He did it a little bit more second half, which was good to see.”

Cheltenham manager Darrell Clarke was unhappy with the mentality of his players as they conceded goals at the end of each half to slip even deeper into relegation trouble.

Clarke said: “I’m not happy. We should never concede a goal like that just before half-time.

“Then we score an equaliser, are on the front foot and then it’s a mentality thing for me. It wasn’t just the goal, for five or six minutes before that people were slashing at things, no composure, not making right decisions.

“I’m not happy on crucial moments in games and I’m expecting more from our players.

“For me it was a mindset and mentality issue that we sat back after scoring and then you get punished. It was inexcusable.

“Our game plan was working quite well first half, we’d limited them to very few chances, only a couple of long-range shots and then we concede a poor goal.

“We made a few changes, stayed in the game, got the ball down and played in the right areas and got the equaliser.

“Then, for whatever reason, the mentality of the team that was out there to finish the game was nowhere near good enough.

“Players that come into the team need to take those opportunities or else they’ll never play at those levels again.

“Players have to learn quickly because otherwise they just fall by the wayside.”

QPR boss Marti Cifuentes remains “convinced” the club will avoid relegation despite their recent resurgence being ended by a 2-0 defeat at home to Middlesbrough.

Rangers, unbeaten in their previous four matches – which included a win at leaders Leicester and Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with West Brom – faded in the second half at Loftus Road, where goals from Emmanuel Latte Lath and Marcus Forss gave Boro the points.

Cifuentes’ side recently climbed out of the relegation zone, where they had been since September, but remain just one point above second-bottom Sheffield Wednesday.

“Trust me, I don’t need a defeat to have a reality check. It’s a really difficult situation,” Cifuentes said.

“I’m convinced that we’re going to manage to reach the target, but if anyone thought it was easy they were making a big mistake.

“I’m not a magician. I’m here to help. But to expect we’re going to win every game is delusional. It’s going to be tough.”

A win would have been a massive boost for Rangers in their battle to stay up but, after being the better team for much of the first half, they ran out of ideas and energy in the second.

Cifuentes admitted: “We have a sad feeling because it’s true that we had big expectations about this game and we didn’t perform – not even close to the last game.

“We had a very demanding game on Wednesday, emotionally and physically, and Middlesbrough played 60 minutes against 10 men against Norwich, so perhaps that’s one of the reasons they looked more energetic in the second half.

“It’s very demanding when you have three games in just a few days and especially when you have Leicester away and West Brom, which were very demanding.”

Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick believes back-to-back wins have underlined the fighting spirit of his players.

Boro lost four out of their five matches prior to the recent upturn but are eight points away from the play-off places and still in with a slim chance of promotion.

Carrick said: “I keep saying about the spirit of the boys. It’s easy when you’re winning to say that, but when you have a tough spell – and we’ve had a couple of tough spells – you see people’s characters and their real personalities.

“The boys have been incredible in terms of sticking together and finding a way through it.

“It’s two big results for us. There’s no getting away from that. The timing of the two results has been good and we’ve got two games coming up before the international break that we need to make the most of.”

Latte Lath broke the deadlock after 64 minutes as Rangers were unable to clear a free-kick and Matt Clarke nudged the ball towards the Ivorian striker, who sent a right-footed volley past goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and into the corner of the net.

Forss doubled the lead 12 minutes later following a counter-attack.

“It wasn’t the prettiest game but what mattered most was the spirit and willingness to work for each other,” said Carrick.

“I’m delighted. To find a way to grind out a win was pleasing. The boys did what they needed to do to get the win.

“It was a case of having the belief and backing themselves to go and win the game.”

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, believes the development of a world-class stadium for Manchester United could spark the “biggest regeneration project in the north of England that we’ll ever see”.

The Premier League giants announced on Friday that a task force has been formed aimed at exploring options to regenerate the Old Trafford area of the city with a top-class ground at the heart of it.

United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe favours a new stadium on adjacent club-owned land rather than redeveloping the current ground and called this is a “once-in-a-century opportunity”.

Lord Coe, the London 2012 chief, was named chair of the ‘Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force’, which also includes former United captain Gary Neville and the city’s mayor.

“From our point of view there’s nothing bigger in world football than the name Manchester United,” Burnham said.

“And if we unlock the full power of this club in terms of its power to regenerate then that’s fantastic for Greater Manchester in terms of jobs, new investment into the city-region.

“If you look at this area investment has gone into Media City, but actually if you look around at the wider area there’s not been a huge amount in recent decades.

“This could be the biggest regeneration project in the north of England that we’ll ever see. It could be that big.

“It depends on the club, though. The club’s got a decision to make about is it refurbished, is it new build.

“Whatever the club decides, we’ll support them in that and in either scenario it’s massive for Greater Manchester.

“But obviously we’re standing behind the club, to make sure that the maximum benefit is achieved for the economy of Greater Manchester.”

Asked if it could be on the scale of what London 2012 did for East London, Burnham said: “It absolutely could be on that scale and it could be more because of this club and the desire of people around the world to be associated in some way with this club.”

Burnham was Old Trafford on Saturday to see his Everton side defeated 2-0 by United and, most importantly, speak up the benefits of this project.

“What I have got to do as part of the task force in the next five, six months working with Lord Coe, Gary and others is give all the supporting information to enable the club to make a decision,” Burnham said. “Is it refurbished or is it a new build?

“In either case there will be some requirement to have some public funds involved because of the train station and there’s a big freight depot right behind Old Trafford, which is an issue as well and that’s something we have got to look at.”

While Burnham accepts funding will be a talking point, he highlighted how taxpayers’ money is frequently used when teams build new stadiums.

“You look at any new-build stadium in the last 20-30 years, there will have been some public funds involved in terms of infrastructure, in supporting development,” he said. “That’s just a fact.

“If you look at the example of West Ham, the Olympic Park, lots of public money has gone in to some developments around the country because of what they can bring to those places.”

Burnham believes the changes would help establish Manchester as the go-to place for elite football, with Milan the only other city boasting two Champions League winners.

“If on the west of Greater Manchester you have United at the heart of a new campus of facilities that links to Media City.

“Then on the side of the city you’ve got Manchester City who continue to build out from the Etihad with a new massive indoor arena going in there. Just think about that.

“No other city in the world would be set up in terms of its football infrastructure. No where would come close to Manchester.”

Manager Steve Evans believes Stevenage’s 0-0 draw against 10-man Fleetwood was a ‘wasted opportunity’ in their push for a place in the League One play-offs.

Jamie Reid had the best chance of a quiet first half at the Lamex Stadium but he failed to test Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch.

Fleetwood’s Harrison Holgate was shown a red card for a second bookable offence after the break and Reid thought he had won it after finding the back of the net with nine minutes remaining.

However, he was judged to be offside and the visitors held on to secure a valuable point.

Evans said: “Of course it is a wasted opportunity.

“You have to give credit first and foremost to Charlie Adam, there has been big investment at the club but I have nothing but respect for that.

“They are one club who I hope come through this and stay up. I have a lot of respect for the people running the club up there and everyone else, including Charlie.

“Our players are sat with their heads down and it is probably a day where if you’re half-educated as a player, you don’t lift your head because you may just get a rattle.

“You better sit with your head down but only based on our performance, our performance levels were six-and-a-half out of 10s, that’s not enough to win a game.

“We’ll focus on ourselves, we were below par and if we are below par in the next three or four games we will be booking our holidays.”

Stevenage remain in sixth, just a point ahead of Oxford, while Fleetwood moved above Port Vale into 22nd.

Adam was pleased with a point after illness wreaked havoc on his pre-match preparation.

He said: “We had a bit of a sickness bug in the camp and we lost Ben Heneghan at about 11am this morning.

“We put Harrison in and unfortunately for him, it became a disappointing day with the red card.

“But he was ready, prepared and I think my lads put a great shift in.

“I think they could have had a red card but we just have to get on with it.

“We feel like we have been on the back of some decisions at the moment but that is the way football is.

“We’ll dust ourselves down, we’ll get on the bus and we’ll go again with back-to-back home games on Tuesday and Saturday and we’ll look forward to it.

“When you’re down where we are you have to see that side of the game, you have to be aggressive, you have to fight.

“You know what they are going to give, Stevenage have been really successful.”

Enzo Maresca saluted the character of his side after Leicester battled back to earn a 2-2 at Hull.

Jamie Vardy scored a brace as the Sky Bet Championship league leaders twice came from behind to earn a valuable point at the MKM Stadium.

Maresca – whose side are now three points clear of second-placed Leeds – said: “It was a tough game, as we expected.

“They are a very good team and their four players up front are very quick and very technical.

“The game for me was a good game. They pressed man-to-man and we had to do that, too.

“Sometimes when you can’t win, you take a point by trying and trying – and we did that.

“We conceded a goal but the reaction was there. We conceded a second one and the reaction was there.

“We could have done many things better, but I think the character was there and that was important.”

As has been a hallmark of their season, Leicester had to dig in to get something from a fine game of football.

Fabio Carvalho opened the scoring on16 minutes after Wout Faes carelessly lost possession on the edge of the penalty box.

Carvalho did well to maintain composure and atone for his earlier penalty miss after Stephy Mavididi ended Regan Slater’s power-packed run inside the area.

Vardy equalised from the spot after 31 minutes when Jean Michael Seri was controversially adjudged to have upended Abdul Fatawu.

A finely balanced second half swung the way of the hosts on 61 minutes after Annas Zaroury’s lovely left-footed hit arrowed into the bottom-right corner.

But Hull’s celebrations lasted just two minutes as Vardy added a second when he sharply controlled Fatawu’s perfect pass before flighting the ball into the roof of the net.

Maresca said: “I was very happy with the reaction. Sometimes it’s important you see the reaction, and we saw that.

“You have to adapt. We made some mistakes but, overall, we continued to try until the end.

“What they (his players) have done is not normal and when we had nine points more (at the top of the league) it was not normal.

“We are very happy where we are and we still have nine games to go.”

On Vardy, Maresca added: “He has the most important thing in football, which is to score goals.

“We have to manage him because of his age. For sure, he’s going to help us until the end.”

Hull are unbeaten in seven but they have drawn their last three league games and have been replaced by Norwich in the top six.

Head coach Liam Rosenior said: “That performance is going to stand us in good stead.

“I slept well last night because I know what this team are about. We did it our way against an outstanding team.

“There were a lot pleasing aspects. We let ourselves down with momentary lapses of concentration, but our players are young.

“We make naïve decisions at time but in our naivety there’s a fearlessness and bravery to our game.

“We need to peak now. The players are showing me that they are learning and improving.

“If they can keep doing that we will get to where we want to be.”

Rosenior added: “We have gone up against an outstanding team at this level so I’m delighted.

“If you look how the team and the club has grown in the last 18 months, I’m so excited and proud to be part of his process.

“We’re all in this together and that was an outstanding afternoon for the football club.

“It’s a points accumulation, but these players are showing me they are improving all the time.

“We should have won the game from our performance – I just need to nudge them two or three more per cent and then we’ll get there.”

Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson praised his bench after two late goals finally saw off Burton in a 3-1 win for Posh at the Pirelli Stadium.

The game had been heading towards a draw after Ricky-Jade Jones’ opener early in the second half had been cancelled by Albion’s Crystal Palace loanee Ademola Ola-Adebomi’s first senior goal from a long throw – but a late two-goal salvo from defender Josh Knight and substitute Jonson Clarke-Harris ultimately sealed victory for Posh.

“The subs have won the game for us, simple as that,” Ferguson said.

“What has been proven today is that we are going to need everyone. Jonno has come on, scored one and set one up and Malik [Mothersille] has set one up.

“Ricky’s is a real striker’s goal and he needs more of those, but that is 12 for the season for him now and once he started making the runs we wanted him to we started stretching them a bit more and got on top. Then it is about getting the next goal but unfortunately, they got that.”

Posh are now on a five-game winning run, which has seen them solidify a play-off spot and reach Wembley in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.

And Ferguson said: “At this stage of the season it is just about getting wins and another three goals is just fantastic. I am delighted with that but I always felt, in my own head, that March was going to be a pivotal month for us and we have started it really well.”

Albion stay five points clear of relegation despite the loss, but the Brewers are now the closest team to the bottom four with manager Martin Paterson ruing missed chances that cost his side dear.

“In terms of effort I can’t ask any more of them,” Paterson said post-match. “Ultimately you can look at it and they had 14 shots to our 12 so in the cold light of day the story is that they stuck the ball in the net and we didn’t.”

Ola-Adebomi’s goal gave Albion parity after Deji Oshilaja had earlier seen a header hit the post but Albion squandered opportunities.

“We had moments and chances but we didn’t punish them. Ultimately, we didn’t score the goals that were required,” the Burton boss added.

“I think everybody had us down for a defeat today but because of the performance, in parts, we should have got something from the game. It’s a sickener but I have to take it on the chin.”

Albion now face two tough games on the road, starting with a trip to leaders Portsmouth.

Paterson said: “We gave up goals today that were uncharacteristic for us and now we have to go away from home for two games and pick up points. And that is a necessity.”

Norwich head coach David Wagner praised the attitude of his side after they hammered bottom club Rotherham 5-0 to move back into the Championship play-off zone.

The Canaries were professionalism personified as they ruthlessly dismantled a side who arrived at Carrow Road with eight successive defeats behind them.

“It was a top-class performance, a fantastic afternoon,” said Wagner. “In every game you play you need the players to show passion, hunger and desire and we saw all those things from them today.

“It was a game people were expecting us to win but you have to prepare properly whoever you are playing. We did that and then, from the very first minute, the players were focused, they were really on it.

“We scored some really good goals and defended well to keep a clean sheet. The players deserve all the credit they get after that.”

He added: “I would rather be in the top six than not with nine games to go, but at the moment it is not important.

“From now on I want us to be super ambitious, but very humble, talk less and work more. Because the only thing that matters is where we are after 46 games.”

Norwich wrapped up the points in the first half, scoring four goals as they ruthlessly emphasised the gulf in class between the two sides.

They went ahead after 13 minutes as some poor defending allowed Jack Stacey to get in a cross from the right for an unmarked Gabriel Sara to head home.

Jacob Sorensen nodded in a Sara corner to make it 2-0 after 21 minutes and it was three just past the half-hour mark as Borja Sainz collected a loose ball in midfield and ran unchallenged before lashing the ball home from just outside the box.

Josh Sargent made it 12 for the season on the cusp of half-time, sweeping home Stacey’s low cross at the back post, and Sara completed the rout two minutes after the break, brilliantly volleying into the top corner after Sargent’s effort had been saved by Viktor Johansson.

Norwich took their foot off the gas after that but Rotherham still failed to muster an effort worthy of the name as they slumped to a ninth straight defeat, and their second 5-0 reverse in the space of five days.

“It was a poor performance, a poor result and a poor reaction to the defeat in midweek,” admitted Millers manager Leam Richardson, whose side are 20 points adrift of safety.

“There is a way we want to finish the season, and it is certainly not like this. There were two ‘worldie’ goals in there I suppose, but there was also some bad defending – the first one was just basic stuff which we didn’t get right.

“I picked the side and I take full responsibility. It has been a horrible week for the staff and the players but the people I feel really sick for are the fans who have come all the way to Coventry and Norwich to support us.

“We just need to start picking up some points again. There is a very flat feeling at club at the moment but there are still nine games to go for us to do something about that.”