What the papers say

The Telegraph reports signs are increasing that Crystal Palace are looking to sell defender Marc Guehi in the summer. The paper says club bosses have begun to draw up a list of centre-back targets to pursue in the next transfer window. Summer will be Palace’s last chance to sell the in-demand 23-year-old for a significant fee, as he enters the final two years of his Palace contract.

Newcastle are in talks to sign Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly on a free transfer, according to the Daily Mail. The 25-year-old is set to be out-of-contract in the summer.

i sport says Championship side Hull intend to pursue a permanent deal for on-loan Liverpool winger Fabio Carvalho. However, the club would only make the move if they win promotion to the Premier League.

And The Independent reports Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim is Barcelona’s top target to succeed outgoing boss Xavi at the end of the season.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Joshua Kimmich: Manchester City lead Liverpool in the chase for the Bayern Munich midfielder, according to the website Caught Offside.

Joshua Zirkzee: Italian outlet Tuttosport says Manchester United recently sent scouts to watch the Bologna striker.

Dean Wade sank five 3-pointers and scored 20 of his career-high 23 points in the fourth quarter as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied from a 22-point deficit in the final period to end the Boston Celtics’ 11-game winning streak, 105-104 on Tuesday.

Wade personally outscored the Celtics in the fourth quarter, 20-17, as he came to the rescue with his barrage of 3s and a putback dunk with 19.1 seconds left to put the Cavs up 105-104.

Boston’s Jayson Tatum appeared to draw a foul on Darius Garland while shooting a jumper with 0.7 seconds left, but Cleveland challenged the call, and following a review, officials said it was Tatum’s leg that caused the contact and not Garland.

Jarrett Allen scored 21 points and Garland had 16 with 11 assists for the Cavs, who made 8 of 11 3s in the final quarter, including two from reserve Georges Niang.

Tatum led Boston with 26 points and Kristaps Porzingis added 24 as the league-leading Celtics lost for the first time since Feb. 1.

Doncic extends triple-double streak in loss

Luka Doncic notched his fourth straight triple-double, but Tyrese Haliburton had 19 points and 11 assists to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 137-120 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

Doncic had 39 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his 14th triple-double of the season. Russell Westbrook is the only player in NBA history with five consecutive 30-point triple-doubles and Oscar Robertson is the only other player with four.

Myles Turner scored 20 points to lead nine players in double figures for the Pacers, whose bench outscored the Mavericks’ 69-32.

Suns cool Nuggets with win in overtime

Kevin Durant scored eight of his 35 points in overtime and the Phoenix Suns recovered after blowing a 22-point lead to beat the Denver Nuggets, 117-107.

After being held to 12 points in the fourth quarter, the Suns erupted for 15 in overtime, with Durant and Beal combining for 13.

Beal finished with 16 points and Grayson Allen scored 28 with eight 3-pointers as Phoenix avoided a third  straight loss.

Jamal Murray had 28 points and Nikola Jokić added 25 points, 16 rebounds and five assists for Denver, which had a six-game winning streak stopped.

Nick Cousins scored twice and the Florida Panthers held on for their sixth straight victory, 5-3 over the New Jersey Devils to spoil the debut of interim coach Travis Green on Tuesday.

Eetu Luostarinen, Evan Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart had the other goals as Florida won for the 12th time in 13 games and extended its NHL lead with 43 wins and 90 points.

The Panthers, who are 25-4-2 since Dec. 23, have won 14 of their past 15 road games.

Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and Colin Miller scored for the Devils, who lost their third straight and fell in their first game since Lindy Ruff was relieved of his coaching duties on Monday.

Backup Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves to win his fourth consecutive start.

Oilers rally past Bruins

Leon Draisaitl scored his second goal of the game in overtime and the surging Edmonton Oilers rallied for a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins.

Stuart Skinner made 25 saves and Connor McDavid assisted on both goals to help the Oilers win their fifth straight game.

McDavid extended his point streak to 12 games, during which he has two goals and 26 assists. He is one point away from his fourth straight 100-point season.

Pavel Zacha scored for the Bruins, who dropped to 2-2-3 in their last seven home games.

Canadiens rally to end Predators’ streak

Nick Suzuki scored just 17 seconds into overtime and the Montreal Canadiens rallied for a 4-3 victory, ending the Nashville Predators’ eight-game winning streak.

The Predators appeared headed for another win when Ryan O’Reilly scored with 7:41 left in regulation for a 3-2 lead, but Joshua Roy tallied the tying goal 2 ½ minutes later.

Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist for Nashville, which suffered its first loss since Feb. 15.

Brendan Gallagher and David Savard also scored for the Canadiens, who have points in four straight (2-0-2).

Sheffield Wednesday head coach Danny Rohl will celebrate his side’s 1-0 home win against Plymouth by de-briefing with former boss Hansi Flick.

Former Germany boss Flick was at Hillsborough to see Djeidi Gassama score a second-half winner to give Rohl’s relegation battlers real momentum.

Rohl, who worked as Flick’s assistant at Bayern Munich as well as with the Germany national team, has guided the Owls to five wins in their last six Sky Bet Championship matches and to within sight of safety.

“Yesterday we had dinner together,” Rohl said. “It was nice to see him again after five months and we spoke just now and he will come in my room.

“It’s good to have him here. When you have been assistant coach to him it’s good to show him you can do it. It’s fantastic. He’s a good guy.

“You can speak about the football side and speak about the private side and this is helpful.”

Wednesday remain in the bottom three, but having been there since the second game of the season only goal difference now separates them from the two sides immediately above the drop zone – Huddersfield and QPR.

Rohl said: “In the last few weeks we’ve invested a lot of things to come to this point now. We come closer. We’ve closed the gap and it’s an unbelievable race at the bottom of the table, maybe eight or nine teams around us.”

Next up for Wednesday is the visit to Hillsborough of Yorkshire rivals Leeds on Friday and Rohl is relishing the prospect of giving Owls fans more to cheer.

Rohl added: “This is the outcome from the last few weeks and I hope we can recover for a big game on Friday. I hope we are sold out and everybody comes to push us forward.

“We have to really enjoy it. It is my wish on Friday we have a great atmosphere and this power from the stands to the pitch and from the pitch to the stands. It could be massive on Friday.”

Plymouth remain in 16th place, but sit just two points above the Owls after slipping to their fifth defeat in seven league games.

Ian Foster’s side rallied after going behind to Gassama’s 60th-minute strike, but failed to create any clear-cut chances.

Foster said: “Our reaction is one of bitter disappointment. We didn’t feel it was a game we ought to have lost.

“It’s really unfortunate the manner of the goal – Adam (Randell) has made an honest mistake, he should have cleared his lines and unfortunately for Adam he slipped over and they’ve scored on the transition.

“It’s bitterly disappointing for us. Second half I thought the team were perfect in terms of their approach, I thought we bossed the second half and I can’t believe that we’ve come away having lost the game.”

Boss Nathan Jones described Charlton’s 3-1 League One victory at Cheltenham as a “big, big win”.

Daniel Kanu put the Addicks on course in the first half before Liam Sercombe levelled for the home side, 20 minutes from time.

But late strikes from substitute Tyreeq Bakinson and former Robins favourite Alfie May sealed the points to lift Charlton up to 14th – seven points clear of the drop zone.

“It shows we can see out games. Even when we take a knock we can fight back,” Jones said.

“It was a big, big win and I felt we deserved it, but after they pegged us back I think everyone in the ground thought they’d go on and win it. It was the opposite.

“It’s a tough place to come to and Darrell’s (Clarke) got them playing, but I thought we were brilliant.”

Charlton are now unbeaten in six and Jones added: “We’re in a good place, we’ve got good players and I’m really enjoying it.

“I thought we were brilliant tonight – the young lads did really well and Alfie May really was a threat all night.

“Alfie’s used to scoring on this ground, so I’m pleased he scored, but I’m pleased for everyone.

“The players are buying into everything we want them to do.”

The improving Addicks took first-half lead through Daniel Kanu before Liam Sercombe’s 70th-minute leveller set up a tense finish.

But the late double lifted Jones’ side seven points clear of their hosts and the drop zone.

“It was an end-to-end game,” Cheltenham manager Darrell Clarke said.

“We have come out of it disappointed.

“It’s a disappointed changing room, obviously. But I have said to my players in there, they’ve given me absolutely everything since I have been through the door.

“It’s one of those nights when it wasn’t our night. I thought when we got the equaliser, we might go on to win it. A couple of sloppy goals from our perspective lost us the game.”

Daniel Farke felt Leeds’ 1-0 victory over Stoke was his side’s “best win in 2024” as they continued their Championship automatic-promotion charge.

Dan James could have had a couple in the first half but for Daniel Iversen’s saves before the Wales international put his side ahead with his 11th goal of the season just after the half-hour mark.

Stoke did not roll over and Illan Meslier kept out chances from Lewis Baker, Tyrese Campbell and Josh Laurent in the second period.

Mateo Joseph saw one blocked off the line to deny Leeds a second while substitute Ben Pearson was sent off late on for the visitors.

Farke said: “For me, it is the best win in 2024 because everyone expects us to win this home game.

“Everyone expects us at Elland Road to beat each and every opponent right now against a team not in the best position and think it should be an easy win.

“It feels like in the stadium ‘we are going there for a cup of tea and a cake’ perhaps instead of this explosion we had against Leicester where everyone was on it.”

Leeds kept the heat on top two Leicester and Ipswich and will play their third league game in six days when they travel to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night.

Farke’s side have a chance to put points on the board before their promotion rivals but the German bemoaned the congested fixture list.

He added: “Even today was our third game in six days with two tough away games and thank God the home game today.

“Four games in 10 days, I’m not sure any other teams in Europe have such a schedule but what else can we do. We have to adapt to it and try keep going and stay unbeaten.

“When you have such a schedule you cannot expect offensive fireworks and top-class games. You can’t always be at your best in this schedule – I’m happy out of the last three games we have seven points.”

Stoke boss Steven Schumacher praised his side, who remain in the bottom three of the Championship.

He said: “I think we showed some real character and stood up to some intense pressure at times.

“We didn’t fold or buckle which is a good sign from the team that they are ready for the challenge and I think in the second half we showed everyone what type of team we can be but didn’t do enough to get the equaliser we probably deserved.

“I don’t think he (Pearson) needs to get involved in the first one and the second one there is not a lot in it. It’s frustrating because we will miss Ben again.

“Iversen made some good saves tonight and he kept us in the game. He is a good goalkeeper and we will need him in the run-in.”

Mark Robins heaped praise on hat-trick hero Ellis Simms after his first-half treble set Coventry on their way to a 5-0 Championship victory over basement boys Rotherham at the CBS Arena.

Simms claimed his second hat-trick in eight days after securing the match ball during the Sky Blues’ 5-0 win over Maidstone in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Joel Latibeaudiere and Fabio Tavares were also on the scoresheet as Coventry returned to winning ways after defeats in their last two league outings.

Robins, who celebrates his seventh anniversary in charge of Coventry on Wednesday, said: “It was a good start. Within the first five minutes, the goalkeeper has dropped one onto Ellis’ head and it puts us 1-0 up and settles any nerves there may have been.

“We blew them away within the first 37 minutes or so, Ellis has scored a hat-trick, Joel’s (Latibeaudiere) got a header from a corner…Ellis’ is left foot, right foot, header, it’s the perfect hat-trick.

“He’s not scored a hat-trick and now he’s got two in a week, gets his second match ball and that’s brilliant for him, brilliant for us, brilliant for his confidence.

“When he realises his strength he’ll be absolutely awesome. You can see he can finish with his right and left foot and that’s when he’s not thinking about things. He’s got incredible pace and incredible strength.

“Fabio’s finish was outstanding, I think Joel was above the crossbar when he headed it. It was just a really good performance and it was much needed.

“We needed the three points and to get it in the style and the manner we got it was really pleasing. The clean sheet was a brilliant clean sheet.”

Rotherham boss Leam Richardson admitted the Millers’ first-half display was the worst 45 minutes of his managerial career as his side slumped to their eighth defeat in a row, leaving them 19 points from safety.

Richardson admitted: “There’s some pretty embarrassed footballers in that dressing room right now. I will always defend footballers but that’s probably the worst 45 minutes that I’ve been involved in.

“You can accept mistakes. Vik’s (Johansson) had an outstanding season but you can’t stand games like this in the Championship. You can’t be soft, conceding three or four goals in the middle of our goal.

“We’re very aware of the situation we’re in. I’ve been here a number of weeks and it became clear very quickly the amount of challenges we’ve got at the football club, where we’ve got to move it forward.

“I’ll always back myself to move football clubs forward because I’ve done it in the past and I’ve got a really strong record.

“At this level, you’ve got to be really careful you don’t open yourself up to nights like this because the level is too big and if we’re not 100 per cent we will find ourselves on the back of things like this.

“It’s the first time that I’ve experienced it in my time at the club. I can make excuses for everybody but I’ll take the full blame for it.

“I’ll take it on my shoulders because I’m the man at the front of it and I’m the man who puts them out there.”

Harry Kane fired Bayern Munich into the quarter-finals of the Champions League as the German side overturned a first-leg deficit against Lazio with a 3-0 win at the Allianz Arena.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Rome, Bayern were kept out until Kane headed home from close range – his 50th goal in European competition.

Thomas Muller doubled the lead on the night with another header seconds before the break as Matthijs de Ligt’s volley flashed across the six-yard area.

Lazio’s best chance had fallen to Ciro Immobile, their spot-kick scorer from the first game, just moments before Kane had levelled the tie.

But Immobile planted his header wide from six yards when it appeared easier to score.

Bayern sealed their progress into the last eight of a competition they have won six times after 66 minutes.

Leroy Sane’s shot was parried into the path of Kane, who had to adjust his feet sharply to score his second on the night and 33rd Bayern goal in as many appearances.

Kylian Mbappe’s brace saw Paris St Germain cruise into the quarter-finals, with a 2-1 win at Real Sociedad completing a 4-1 aggregate victory.

With a 2-0 lead in their pocket from the first leg, PSG were comfortable throughout.

Mbappe, the top scorer across Europe’s top five leagues so far this season, offered an early warning sign when he turned a shot narrowly over the bar from Fabian Ruiz’s cut-back in the fifth minute.

PSG were the dominant force and went ahead after 15 minutes through Mbappe’s fifth Champions League goal of the season, bending the ball across goal and inside the far post.

Mbappe punished Sociedad again 11 minutes into the second half, bursting on to Lee Kang-in’s through ball and whipping the ball in majestically at the near post. Mikel Merino scored a consolation for Sociedad a minute from time.

Mark Venus hopes Birmingham’s 1-1 draw at play-off-chasing Hull can act as “a springboard” in their battle against relegation.

Substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz’s late header cancelled out Ozan Tufan’s first-half goal to move Blues one point clear of the Sky Bet Championship drop zone.

Venus, still assisting for the unwell Tony Mowbray, said: “Hull are a very good team and they are, of course, not in the top six after 35 games for no good reason.

“But we stuck at it and kept going, which was great to see.

“They obviously had a lot of possession, which we expected, but we also caused them a few problems and I felt we deserved a point in the end.

“This now has to be a springboard for the rest of the season.”

Birmingham looked in big trouble when Tufan scored at the back post on 25 minutes after Fabio Carvalho’s corner was flicked on by Jacob Greaves.

Tufan’s final touch appeared to come off his left hand but the goal was given.

The Turkey international nearly doubled Hull’s lead after 40 minutes when his strike from distance was expertly pawed on to the left post by John Ruddy.

The hosts dominated for most of the second half, but they were obsessed by trying to score a perfect second goal when a more direct approach could have put the game out of sight.

And they were punished after 82 minutes when substitute Alex Pritchard sent over a lovely cross that was powerfully headed home by Jutkiewicz.

Venus said: “It (Tuzan’s goal) looks handball to me, but maybe the officials were not in a position to give it.

“I just feel, at the moment, that things are going a little bit against us in terms of decisions, but hopefully we can get a few more in our favour going forwards for the rest of the season.

“We’ve had some really tough fixtures that have stretched us to the limit so to come here and get something, in a game that teams in Hull’s position usually win, was great.

“We have to build on this now and move forwards, but we need everybody with us as we’ve got a big task ahead.”

Hull are unbeaten in six and remain in the play-offs, but head coach Liam Rosenior was unhappy that his players could not convert their superiority into more goals.

He said: “Some of the control, some of the areas we get into and the dominance – and we come away with a point? I’m very angry and frustrated.

“I keep saying the same things, but this has to be the last time I say them.

“We have to be more ruthless and we have to take advantage of our dominance.

“They didn’t have a sniff and we’ve just thrown away another two points – when Jutkiewicz came on we should have been 3-0 up.

The reason we play this way is to score, dominate and take the game away from the opposition – we have to grow up and understand where we are.”

Rosenior added: “The one-touch stuff is great but we’re here to score goals.

“This is on me – I’d never criticise individuals –but for us to get to where we want to be we have to all take responsibility.

“I’d say 95 per cent of our performance was magnificent but we didn’t finish it off and that’s the bit that makes the different in football.

“I love this group, but time is going to pass us by if we don’t learn lessons.

“Everyone can see the potential of this team, but we have turn the potential into reality.”

Leicester boss Enzo Maresca has told veteran striker Jamie Vardy he has a key role to play as the Sky Bet Championship leaders edge their way back towards the Premier League.

The 37-year-old scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at Sunderland on Tuesday evening which ended the Foxes’ three-game losing streak in the league and maintained their three-point advantage over second-placed Ipswich.

Asked about the former England international’s contribution, Maresca said: “We know very well that Jamie is so important for us. He has been so important this season and he will be important for the end of the season.

“He has experience, but also he has done in his life and is doing the most important thing in football, that is scoring goals.”

Vardy’s 13th-minute header after Anthony Patterson had saved Wout Faes’ initial effort proved the difference between the sides on a night when the Foxes might have had the game won by half-time, but then needed a fine save from goalkeeper Mads Hermansen after the break to deny Trai Hume a spectacular equaliser.

The home side were aggrieved not to be awarded a penalty for Hamza Choudhury’s stoppage-time challenge on defender Dan Ballard as they mounted a concerted late charge.

Interim Sunderland boss Mike Dodds said: “Dan is adamant it was a penalty. My initial gut is why would he go down?”

Maresca admitted City had not played as well as they had in successive defeats by Middlesbrough, Leeds and QPR, but was delighted with their resilience as the Black Cats rallied.

He said: “At this moment, the most important thing is to win games, and also as a team probably we need to learn to win games in an ugly way like tonight.

“In the second half, we suffered a lot, but in the first half, again we created many chances especially at the beginning. We missed, but fortunately we could score with Jamie and at the end, we won the game.”

Sunderland’s fifth defeat on the trot left them closer to the bottom three than the top six in terms of points, but Dodds was adamant there are reasons to be cheerful.

He said: “They are human. They’ve lost five on the bounce, so they’re not machines, they are aware of that, I’m aware of that. But I do feel that we are one win away from putting a number of wins together.

“Unfortunately the result wasn’t the result we wanted, but I think the performance would show that there is some light at the end of the tunnel.”

Blackburn boss John Eustace praised his side’s fighting spirit after a second-half strike from Sammie Szmodics salvaged a 1-1 Championship draw against Millwall at Ewood Park.

The result left Eustace still searching for his first win as Rovers boss but he found plenty to be positive about after the hosts hit back from Michael Obafemi’s shock 53rd-minute opener.

“It wasn’t a classic but again the lads have shown fantastic character and togetherness, to come from a goal behind against a difficult opponent,” said Eustace.

“I was pleased with the reaction. We dominated possession without really testing their keeper, but we worked hard and stuck together and it was a good point in the end.

“The boys since I’ve come in have been fantastic. We’re playing players who have come back from long injuries and they are running through brick walls for us. They are leggy and tired but they are fully committed to the cause.”

The point left Rovers in the thick of the relegation fight and the frustration was evident among some sections of the home support at the final whistle.

Szmodics proved a threat throughout but clear-cut chances were few and far between and Yasin Ayari’s speculative long-range effort in injury time summed up Rovers’ overall lack of threat.

Eustace added: “We have to show more belief in the final third but we are showing the right signs and with 10 games to go, it’s about not losing and getting the right result.

“There’s a lot of teams from around 10th spot down that can be involved in the relegation fight and it’s just vital we keep believing in what we’re doing.”

Millwall boss Neil Harris was satisfied with a point that extended his unbeaten run – since replacing Joe Edwards last month – to three games.

And Harris was particularly pleased with Obafemi who came off the bench to grab his first goal since signing his loan deal from Rovers’ Lancashire rivals Burnley.

Obafemi has struggled with fitness and illness since moving to The Den and Harris said: “I’m delighted for Mike.

“It was too risky to start him tonight because he’s our only fit striker coming back from injury, but I was really pleased with his performance.

“We’re really pleased with the points total of seven from three games. The glass is definitely half full and there are lots of positives that I’ve learned today.”

Harris insisted he would not attach any blame to Danny McNamara, whose blunder at the back allowed Szmodics in to sweep home Rovers’ equaliser.

Left-back McNamara has been one of the stand-out performers under Harris and the head coach said: “When you get your noses in front in a scrappy game at this stage of the season, you need to see the game out.

“Danny is disappointed but he will stand up and take responsibility and there were other things we didn’t do well in the build-up to the goal, so there is no individual blame culture.

“The big thing for me is that we came off tonight and we gave a really poor goal away but the players all mentioned that it was a really good point for us tonight.”

Bolton head coach Ian Evatt felt his side should have won at Barnsley after seeing them come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2, with the equaliser coming deep into time added on.

Goals from John McAtee (25) and Donovan Pines (47) put the home side in control before Victor Adeboyejo pulled a goal back.

Randell Williams then levelled in the eighth minute of added time, following up to score after Josh Sheehan’s penalty was saved.

Evatt said: “I have some frustrations tonight because that’s a game we should have won.

“I think for the first 20/25 minutes, we were dominant and we started to build momentum and had one or two opportunities.

“We do a lot of diligent work on the opposition and their strategy and we knew we’d find it really tough to play our usual build-up because they’re really aggressive in the press.

“We knew they’d commit bodies forward and leave Aaron (Collins) and Victor two-for-two in huge space and we just had to put the ball into good areas with quality and we did that.

“The first (goal), we made a bad decision and played inside, we concede a goal, which completely rocks us. Then we lost our marbles for probably the next 15/20 minutes.

“We got into half-time and gave them the same messages again. And then we come out and we play another pass inside, when it should go into the space behind. It ends up in a corner and we end up 2-0 down.

“Great credit to the players that they’ve shown immense belief and character. We get the first one back and then it’s just a matter of time. We missed too many gilt-edged opportunities.

“They kept fighting, they kept believing and in the end they got at least what they deserved.”

Barnsley boss Neill Collins was disappointed to let a two-goal lead slip but refused to get too downhearted.

He said: “It’s disappointing because you’re 2-0 up and you’ve had a fantastic performance, probably to the 85th minute.

“And then really they came on top. We’re all really disappointed because we wanted to be celebrating three points and for large parts of the game, we probably deserved three points.

“We were up against a really good side. One they get the goal to go 2-1, you’re going to be under pressure. I think we could have handled it a little better.

“We’ve got to be really careful that we don’t feel disappointed too long because we’ve got 11 games left and we’re a point closer to where we need to be.

“I think we’ve got to take the positives as always and learn some harsh lessons as well.

“If we continue to improve, we’ll be there or thereabouts.”

Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson feels his side are hitting top form again as the race for promotion in Sky Bet League One intensifies after they hammered rivals Northampton 5-1 in the Nene derby.

This was the Posh’s third league win in a row which moved them to within five points of second-placed Bolton, with their current run coming after four straight defeats threatened to derail their push.

Ferguson said: “We had a blip and they’re a young group – if we had gone through the season without a blip, I would have been surprised.

“When you go through bad times in the season, you have to make sure you’re strong enough to go back and improve when you’ve made mistakes, failures and losses because they’re the ones that define the season.

“We had to make sure we got over that and there’s no question the Blackpool game (in the semi-finals of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy) to get to Wembley has really been a huge shift in momentum.

“But then to win three league games, two of them derbies, is a credit to my players.

“It was all-round a very good performance.

“I thought each member of the team and the subs, it was all-round a very confident performance, and it was a very good result.”

Northampton led after nine minutes when Marc Leonard’s cross was headed in by Jon Guthrie, but Peterborough never looked back after Ephron Mason-Clarks’ 25th-minute equaliser from Jaden Katongo’s low ball across.

Kwame Poku’s whipped finish completed the turnaround three minutes later before Joel Randall poked in a third for the Posh after Poku’s mishit ran off Jack Sowerby.

Hector Kyprianou’s header just before the hour effectively made the game safe, with Josh Knight completing the rout five minutes later after Randall’s corner wasn’t cleared.

Northampton boss Jon Brady said: “We’ve got to hold our hands up and that’s a tough night that’s tough to take against your local rivals, but hats off to them, I thought they were excellent.

“I thought the goals we gave away were very soft tonight.

“We started off, we got the goal then conceded two pretty quick goals and it wasn’t good enough thereafter.

“I’m not going to paper over any cracks and we’ve got to hold our hands up, we’ve got to defend better and be more solid in those moments – defensively we weren’t good enough.

“We’ve got to defend those goals so much better and we’ve got to make sure we get it right for Saturday (at Cambridge) and bounce back.

“We were very good earlier on in the season when we beat them at home 1-0, and today we had a bad night and we’ve got to make sure we get it right on Saturday.”