Leicester manager Enzo Maresca said his team will need to be mentally strong after losing the last three Championship games and seeing their lead at the top of the table cut to just three points.

QPR produced a shock result at the King Power Stadium as goals from Ilias Chair and Sinclair Armstrong earned them a 2-1 win that boosts their hopes of avoiding relegation.

Leicester pulled a back through defender Ben Nelson’s first senior goal but they could not find an equaliser and both Ipswich and Leeds are closing in on the leaders.

“It’s a bad feeling. In the last three defeats, we dominated with the chances but the most important thing is to score goals. We lacked quality in the last third,” said Maresca.

“I don’t think it was a matter of being nervous, I didn’t have this feeling from the players. With 11 games to go, we need to finish in the best way.

“It’s been long time since we have been at the top and everyone is chasing us, we can’t think about that, we just need to win games.

“When you drop points and the rest win, you see yourself that they are coming, but we need balance at the moment. You cannot be so happy or so sad.

“If you get too nervous it could be dangerous, if you relax, it could be dangerous. You have to be mentally strong because we have a game in three days (at Sunderland).”

QPR manager Marti Cifuentes praised his players, but said a “great escape” is still not complete after a third successive win, which only lifted them one place up the table and leaves them outside the bottom three only on goal difference.

“We performed at a really high level against a team that is extremely good. They are a very good side with a fantastic coach and I’m sure they will go up despite the last three defeats,” said Cifuentes.

“All the credit to the players because they were very well organised for a long time. We were clinical as we had to be.

“I thought Leicester would be more dangerous and angry after the last two defeats.

“It was an important win for us, but I’m not getting carried away with a victory. The reality is the table shows we are still in a big battle. To get out and achieve this great escape, there is still a lot more to be done.”

Cifuentes praised Chair for opening the scoring. The Morocco international has continued to feature amid reports he faces a year in prison after being found guilty in Belgium of assault, with QPR saying on February 23 that “the legal proceeding is yet to reach its conclusion”.

The Spanish coach added: “I am very pleased with Ilias and the rest of the players so I am not talking much about other things that the club had already commented on. I am pleased about his goal and he is a very important player for us.”

Cifuentes was also delighted with 20-year-old forward Armstrong, who scored with his first touch after coming on as a 57th-minute substitute.

“It was a fantastic first touch, a fantastic way to start the game for him, he gave us exactly what we were looking for,” he said.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson praised his players for their perseverance after coming from behind to defeat Aberdeen 2-1 at home in dramatic fashion.

Neil Warnock’s side had led from Connor Barron’s first-minute strike and looked on course for a first league victory for two months.

But Mark O’Hara converted a penalty after Toyosi Olusanya was fouled in the sixth minute of time added on before Olusanya claimed the winner a minutes later.

Robinson admitted he would have preferred to have seen the goals arrive sooner but felt his team were well worthy of the final outcome.

He said: “We had 70 per cent possession and 14 shots – we deserved to win.

“It took a lot longer than we wanted to get the goals but it showed the character and quality of the squad with the subs we made.

“Conor McMenamin was outstanding after training only three days, Toyosi comes on and scores the winner, it shows the strength in depth.

“It was everything we deserved. We dominated the game. They scored from a wonder goal but outwith that they were not a threat and looked a team under pressure.

“We tried to get the ball down and when we did that we controlled the game. It didn’t surprise me. It would have been an injustice otherwise if we hadn’t scored.

“We got the penalty we deserved, arguably we could have had two more that were very close decisions. The players showed a great attitude.”

Warnock, in contrast, was devastated at not seeing the game out as Aberdeen’s winless streak in the league was extended to 10 games.

The veteran manager said: “It’s difficult to talk as I’m absolutely distraught. The lads have given me everything and I’m so disappointed to lose in the way we did.

“You can’t go away from today and not be disappointed. We were on our knees and that’s how they should feel.

“They deserved to win that game. I don’t think they [St Mirren] knew how to break us down, not a clue. So it makes it doubly disappointing.

“The penalty knocked the players’ confidence and it was disappointing to concede again after all that effort. I thought that was the best we defended since I had been here.”

Eddie Howe is hoping there is more to come from Newcastle after seeing them secure a first home win of 2024 and the 100th of his Premier League career.

The Magpies had not tasted victory at St James’ Park since they beat Fulham 3-0 on December 16, but they ended that run by beating injury-hit Wolves by the same scoreline to suggest they could finally be emerging from a difficult run.

Coming four days after they edged past Sky Best Championship Blackburn into the FA Cup quarter-finals, the win left head coach Howe in positive mood.

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He said: “Sometimes you just have to find a way to get over the finishing line and you know then that there are better performances ahead. I think we were in that moment today.

“I don’t think today was ever going to be a classic Newcastle performance, but I think it’s a building bridge closer to where we want to be.

“I thought Blackburn was very similar. We got through, that was the main thing. Today was slightly better again and I’d like to think now with the strength of the group returned that we will hopefully see continued improvement in performances.”

Newcastle were happy to sit back and try to hit the visitors on the break during the first half, and the ploy paid handsome dividends when Alexander Isak headed home after Bruno Guimaraes’ shot had been half blocked and then Anthony Gordon slotted into an empty net after goalkeeper Jose Sa had collided with team-mate Max Kilman.

Asked if the ploy had worked as he had hoped, Howe, who lost Kieran Trippier to a calf problem, added: “It was a slight tweak from our normal way of playing. We analyse our opposition, like we do always.

“There are always tweaks and little things we try to do to help us in our performance, and that was one today, to try to maybe play a slightly more transitional game.”

Wolves, who were without injured duo Hwang Hee-chan – he is expected to be sidelined for around six weeks by a hamstring injury – and Matheus Cunha and lost both Sa and Pedro Neto at half-time, gave as good as they got for long periods, but found Magpies keeper Martin Dubravka in resilient form again.

Their day was done when substitute Tino Livramento capped a good afternoon for the hosts in stoppage time with a fine solo run and finish to wrap up the win.

Head coach Gary O’Neill, however, was not convinced about the merits of Howe’s game plan.

He said: “There’s no way that Newcastle let us have a lot of the ball. We had a lot of the ball because we were really good with the ball.

“I know Eddie Howe, I know Newcastle. They press everybody, especially at home. The reason we had the ball was our quality and how good we were with it.”

O’Neil added: “I thought structurally we were the better side, had real control of the game, control of the ball, so I’m really proud of the group for what they gave today.”

Fleetwood boss Charlie Adam was beaming with pride after a vital 4-2 victory over Lancashire rivals Wigan.

Bosun Lawal, on loan from Celtic, twice pulled Town level in the first half to cancel out goals from Stephen Humphrey and Thelo Aasgaard.

And further strikes from Gavin Kilkenny and Jayden Stockley, within seven second-half minutes, put the result beyond doubt to give Fleetwood’s survival hopes a welcome boost.

Adam said: “It’s the performance I’m happy with. We took the second-half performance from midweek at Port Vale to today. I thought the lads were magnificent, we dominated the ball and caused them real problems.

“We showed real character and that’s what we are going to need. At times the quality of play was really good.”

However, the 38-year-old was keen to remind everyone that consistency is key after the Cod Army’s first win in their last six games.

“Ultimately, it’s only three points and we don’t want to get too high on it, we go again next week,” Adam said.

“We are happy with the result but now it’s about getting that performance on a consistent basis. I want this club to expect to win football matches.

“Getting used to winning football matches is a good habit to have and this group of players are smelling that the performances are good and they are getting the results the performances deserve.”

A deflated Shaun Maloney defended his Wigan players despite their disappointing performance on the Fylde coast.

The Latics looked to be building momentum in the league after their midweek victory over Bolton but succumbed to the intensity of the hosts.

Maloney said: “Look, I can’t really criticise any of my players too much after what they gave me on Tuesday.

“But the levels were definitely lower today in some really key moments; when a tackle had to be made, when we had to defend our box, blocking shots, when we had to spring back.

“We spoke after the Bolton game, and some of our players, about a real desire and determination to win that game.

“Our levels didn’t live up to that game, although I can’t criticise the mentality.

“They gave me absolutely everything again today. It’s just in those key moments, our intensity wasn’t the same as it was in midweek.

“I was concerned before the game whether we could go again, that was my worry, that’s why I made the changes I did.

“I have to give Fleetwood lots of credit, they were better than us at the fundamental things and that’s why they won the game.”

Christian Horner said he is “absolutely confident” he will ride out the storm of his life and remain as Red Bull team principal for the rest of the season.

The build-up to the first round of the Formula One campaign here in Bahrain has been overshadowed by allegations whirling around Horner.

But the 50-year-old, who was joined by his wife Geri in a defiant show of unity ahead of Saturday’s 57-lap race, can take temporary relief from seeing Max Verstappen lead a Red Bull one-two, with Sergio Perez second.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz crossed the line in third, one place ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton a disappointing fifth and seventh respectively for Mercedes.

Asked if he is confident he will stay on as Red Bull team principal for the rest of the season, Horner replied: “Absolutely. Absolutely.”

During an extraordinary week in the Gulf kingdom, Horner was exonerated by Red Bull Racing parent’s company, Red Bull GmbH, on Wednesday following an internal probe into allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” made by a female colleague.

But hundreds of WhatsApp messages, appearing to be exchanged between him and the complainant, were then leaked to the F1 world.

Horner has remained steadfast throughout, and strode hand-in-hand with Geri along the paddock one hour and 45 minutes before the lights went out.

Red Bull’s majority shareholder and Horner ally, Thai billionaire Chalerm Yoovidhya, also joined the duo on the team’s terrace in a very public show of support for the embattled team principal.

Horner planted a kiss on wife Geri before he headed to the Red Bull pit wall to watch his team blow away their rivals. Geri later headed to the garage to watch the race.

The pair stood together smiling underneath the podium as Verstappen celebrated his 18th win from the past 19 races.

An emotional Horner continued: “I have the support of an incredible family, an incredible wife, an incredible team and everybody within that team.

“And my focus is going racing, winning racing and doing the best I can.

“It was a day about starting the season in the best possible way. My focus is on this team, my family, my wife and racing.”

Horner was also quizzed about the leaked Google file which was sent from an anonymous email account to 149 members of the F1 paddock – including FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem, F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali and the grid’s nine other team principals, as well as members of the media.

Horner said: “I am not going to comment on anonymous speculative messages from an unknown source. I am not going to comment on what motives whatever person may have for doing this.

“Obviously, it has not been pleasant with some of the unwanted attention, but the focus is very much on the cars and my focus has been on what is happening on track and the result today demonstrates where the focus is and we move onwards.

“There was a full, lengthy internal process that was completed by an independent KC and the grievance that was raised was dismissed. End of. Move on.

“You could see what it (the win) meant to the whole team. It is better to do your talking on the track.

“I have always been entirely confident that I would be here and my focus is on the season, and the races we have ahead.”

Horner is set to be back in the spotlight in just five days when the cars hit the track in practice for the next round in Saudi Arabia.

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho was delighted with the League One leaders’ helter-skelter 2-1 win at home to Oxford.

Christian Saydee came off the bench to score the goal that fired Pompey a step closer to promotion after Cameron Brannagan’s penalty had cancelled out Callum Lang’s opener for the home side.

Mousinho said: “You could describe that as a pretty breathtaking display from both sides. It was an enjoyable game to watch and with both teams pressing, it created openings for us and them.

“I think it was a good advert for Division One football and I personally think Oxford would be feeling a little hard done by not to go away with at least a point.

“It was probably not our best performance of the season but after what has historically been draws between the sides, it was nice to get the win.

“We started well with the goal but then shot ourselves in the foot for their penalty.

“We seemed to feel a bit sorry for ourselves after that until half-time and we were in fact slow starters at the start of the second half.

“But once we got the second, I felt we were in control from that point on.”

In a fast and furious opening 45 minutes, the sides went in all square.

Pompey took the lead in the second minute when a powerful shot from Lang squirmed under goalkeeper Jamie Cumming.

But Oxford equalised after six minutes when Pompey gave the ball away and Sean Raggett brought down ex-Pompey midfielder Owen Dale for a penalty which was easily converted by Brannagan.

Mark Harris then hit the Pompey post on 13 minutes.

Oxford had the first chance of the second half but Josh Murphy was also denied by the woodwork.

Pompey regained the lead after 67 minutes when Saydee held off a strong challenge to run clear and place the ball wide of Cumming.

Oxford pushed for an equaliser but to no avail.

Oxford boss Des Buckingham said: “I think that’s our best performance since taking the reins. But that’s the frustrating thing because we have come away with nothing.

“We’ve done more than enough to have won the game. We’ve hit the post twice and have had opportunities cleared off the line in the second half.

“We did enough to have won a couple of games out there today. If we can perform for the next 10 games like we did today, I will be extremely happy.

“Although frustrating, we have to approach the next game in the same way we did for this game and if we do that we will position ourselves strongly for that.”

Derby boss Paul Warne hailed Dwight Gayle’s ability to make “a massive difference” after his first goal for a year helped promotion-chasing County beat Port Vale 3-0 at Pride Park.

The 34-year-old striker, who joined Derby last month as a free agent after leaving Stoke, opened his Rams account to make it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time – just as Vale were starting to cause the home side some problems.

Derby had made a lively start and went ahead in the fourth minute through Louie Sibley, whose shot took a big deflection to beat Connor Ripley.

The Vale goalkeeper denied Derby a second in the 11th minute with a double save from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Max Bird and the visitors had a good period before Gayle pounced in the 44th minute.

Ebou Adams provided the cross and Gayle planted a header from 12 yards into the bottom right corner, and Derby sealed victory in the 58th minute through Sibley’s powerful finish.

Warne recognised the importance of Gayle’s first goal since he scored for Stoke on March 4th last year.

He said: “It was nice Dwight got his first goal, I think he’s scored in every league now.

“I’ve said all along you are only ever as good in any game as your goalkeeper and your centre-forward, and if your centre-forward can get a yard in the box and get a goal at a crucial time it makes a massive difference.

“It will give him a right boost, it will do him no end of good. We know he’s rusty but we also know that he can definitely play at this level and he’s another threat for us.

“Some of his touches today were good again and he’s taken a little bit more rust off. It’s obviously great that Dwight scores because all strikers want to score.

“It was nice to get the second goal just before half-time, it made the lads happier in the dressing room but I wasn’t really happy, I was disappointed.

“We had put ourselves under pressure and seemed to panic with three players going for the same ball but I thought in the second half we were comfortable.”

Derby’s win kept them second in League One, seven points behind leaders Portsmouth, while Vale remain deep in trouble at the other end of the table after suffering an eighth defeat in 11 league matches since their last win.

Vale manager Darren Moore said: “We gave ourselves a mountain to climb conceding an early goal. The manner of the goal wasn’t very good but I just thought in the game after we had that early setback we never really condensed the pitch.

“I think the difficult thing was the two goals, one in the first five minutes and then the other just before half-time, that was probably the most disappointing one because 2-0 is a damaging blow.

“There is a little bit of naivety with us, our mindset can be better, needs to be better, will be better because we get some time to work with them on the training ground this week.”

Derek McInnes revealed that Kilmarnock will appeal against the red card shown to Lewis Mayo during their 2-2 draw at Dundee.

An early own goal by keeper Will Dennis was cancelled out by Killie’s Marley Watkins.

Luke McCowan then netted from the penalty spot for the home side after Mayo was sent off by referee Colin Steven for his challenge on Scott Tiffoney.

Robbie Deas secured a dramatic draw for Kilmarnock in stoppage time but McInnes was still raging over Mayo’s sending off.

The Rugby Park boss said: “I will appeal (against the decision). Mayo can play against Aberdeen in the cup because it is a different competition.

“He will be suspended for the St Mirren game so we will be appealing it.

“We had to dig ourselves out of a hole after a refereeing decision. I went in to see him. There is no infringement in the box, if there is a foul?

“It’s a bit untidy because Mayo has his eyes on the ball, it bounces and he gets himself in a bad position, but at no time does he pull Scott Tiffoney down.

“Tiffoney falls down and it doesn’t look great. I can’t understand why Greg Aitken and the VAR team haven’t asked the referee to look at it.

“I think if he does, he doesn’t give the penalty and I think it actually makes him think twice as to whether there is a foul there or not.

“If he does get called over and sticks by his decision then we can have a go at the referee. I don’t understand.

“They get involved when they shouldn’t and don’t get involved where they should. I am just scunnered with it.”

Dundee boss Tony Docherty was delighted with the response of his players after their hammering by Celtic last week but he insisted his team should have seen the Killie game out.

He said: “I think the overriding feeling is disappointment.

“We have just had a good discussion as a group. I think the thing I want to emphasise is that we had a difficult night on Wednesday.

“But we won’t be defined by a result like that but what we will be defined by is our reaction to it.

“I thought our reaction today was fantastic but we should have seen the game out.”

Boss Philippe Clement claimed Ross McCausland was “kicked off the pitch” in the 2-1 defeat by Motherwell which dented Rangers’ cinch Premiership title hopes.

With the visitors leading through a Theo Bair strike, the Northern Ireland winger had to be replaced by Fabio Silva in the 35th minute after he was caught by Dan Casey after the Fir Park defender won a tackle.

Gers skipper James Tavernier scored from the spot on the hour but Casey’s 74th-minute header gave the Steelmen their first league win at Ibrox since 1997.

It was a first defeat in 12 games for Rangers and although they remain two points clear of Celtic at the top of the table, the Parkhead side get the chance to leapfrog them at Hearts on Sunday.

Clement confirmed beforehand that Oscar Cortes, on loan from Lens, would be out for “a long time” following the muscle injury picked up against Kilmarnock in midweek, with fellow wide-men Abdallah Sima and Rabbi Matondo also out.

The Gers boss said: “Ross is bad because he was kicked off the pitch. There was no foul, no yellow card, no red card.

“When I see how we’ve got red cards in the last few months – then I see this action – I don’t understand it to be honest.

“There is too much intensity. When you have to take a player off in the first-half because he can’t walk any more after contact, you need to realise something bad happened there. But clearly not.

“I didn’t think about the fact the same player scored the winning goal.

“I only think about the chances we had to score. I only think about my team and making it better.”

The Belgian boss would not directly say that Casey should have been red carded by referee Alan Muir, adding: “I am not a referee. And I know every word I say becomes a big thing always.

“I think players need to be better protected. We have now already several players kicked off the pitch this season. I think they need to be protected in a better way.”

It was the first points dropped at home by Clement since taking over from Michael Beale in October and he is expecting a positive reaction.

He said: “That’s the interesting thing now. I didn’t expect to have this moment after five months in the building. I thought it would be much earlier.

“Now I’ll get to know my team even better. I know them really well already. But now I’m going to see who’s going to be the guys to stand up after a disappointment.

“I don’t doubt it too much. They are very disappointed and a lot of heads are down. I’m disappointed too, not to get the three points.

“But you need to cope with it, take the right lessons and learn from it to become better. That’s our ambition now.”

Stuart Kettlewell was delighted with Motherwell’s performance but puzzled by Clement’s assessment of McCausland.

He said: “Everybody has got their own opinion. I don’t see it as kicked off the pitch as such.

“I’ve not seen a replay of the incident but at the time it was very close to me and Dan Casey looked 60-40 favourite, or maybe even more than that, to come through and get the ball.

“At the time I wasn’t seeing anything. The referee doesn’t even book him so it doesn’t look as if there was a foul. He was first man to the ball clearly so I’m a wee bit surprised [by Clement’s comments].”

On his side’s shock victory, the Well boss said: “We were asked plenty of questions, we were put under the cosh.

“We had to go into what I call emergency defending in the dying embers. We know that you are going to have to go through all that to get something here – you are going to have to suffer. Of that there is no question.

“When you come here that idea of just sitting in is never going to work. You need to carry a threat on the other side. That is what pleases me most.”

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley was delighted to have kept a clean sheet after his side secured their third League One win in four matches with a 2-0 victory at Shrewsbury.

The hosts’ best chance of the game came just before the 20-minute mark when Tom Bloxham’s first-time cross found Dan Udoh in the box but his diving header was kept out by goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw.

The Tangerines broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute when Hayden Coulson cut the ball across goal for Karamoko Dembele, who fired in at the back post.

Blackpool doubled their advantage with just six minutes remaining when Dembele’s cross found the unmarked Coulson in the box and he headed home.

Critchley said: “I felt we played with more belief in who we want to be, passed the ball better, controlled the game from the back better, built the play and that allowed us to build confidence in the game and get control of the game.

“We have won the game with two moments of quality and we have limited the home team to little and it was nice to keep a clean sheet.

“Even though we were comfortable and they didn’t look like scoring, we know it just takes one moment and they are dangerous at set pieces so it was nice to get the second goal and both goals came at a good time for us.

“He (Dembele) is a brilliant footballer I love watching him play as the supporters do. He is exciting, he does something different and is something different in this league.

“He is really courageous, he takes the ball in any area of the pitch, he backs himself.”

Shrewsbury head coach Paul Hurst had mixed emotions.

He said: “We were beaten by a better team with very good players but there wasn’t much in the game.

“I feel the goal knocks us, it looks like it takes belief out of some of the players which I am not accepting of.

“I have said the fans here are great, they keep behind the players. I said it when I was here last time, it is kind of a nice place to play for a home player.

“I’m sure there will be an odd comment which you are bound to get but they don’t get on your back so that shouldn’t knock confidence.

“I don’t feel we committed to everything in the game and that maybe is summed up with Dan’s (Udoh) chance – which I know was offside – which he heads and the keeper tips it over.

“They can’t have a ball in the box from a corner and their player swing and misses it and it bounces and they still get the next touch to the ball, that is impossible.”

Frustrated Everton manager Sean Dyche has told his players it is time they started taking responsibility for the chances they are missing in front of goal as more failures up front contributed to their 3-1 defeat at home to West Ham.

Beto’s 56th-minute header, after he had missed the club’s first penalty of the season, put them ahead but Kurt Zouma equalised within six minutes and, having found goalkeeper Alphonse Areola in good form, conceded twice in stoppage time to Tomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez.

Problems up front have been an issue all season – only the bottom two sides Burnley and Sheffield United have scored fewer than the Toffees’ 29 – but there are signs Dyche is starting to lose patience.

“I am looking at the talent we have got and looking at the quality we have got and how we are not scoring more goals is just bizarre,” he said after a 10th game without victory.

“I can talk about the xG, I can talk about the quality, I can talk about everything but I’ve never been naive in football and you have to go and do it.

“I’ve just said to the players we have a responsibility collectively to actively go and take the chances we are creating and that is everyone.

“It is hard to correct it when it is there, right in front of your eyes. What more can we do?

“But the players have a responsibility at this football club as well as the manager and staff and we know it is a joint responsibility.”

Dropping Dominic Calvert-Lewin, without a goal in his last 21 matches, was somewhat justified by only Beto’s second league goal on an afternoon of mixed emotions for the £24million summer signing from Udinese.

But Dyche was pleased with the Portuguese’s reaction, adding: “That was what was pleasing about Beto.

“Missing a penalty is not easy, he missed a good chance in the first half but he kept going and it is great header.

“He fatigued so we had to take him off but it is another good marker from him to say ‘Look, I am ready and I want to take it on’.”

For West Ham boss David Moyes it was two wins in six days to keep his side in seventh place and chasing European qualification.

“I think the result was harsh on Everton but our goalkeeper made four or five outstanding saves,” said the Scot, on his return to his former club.

“We scored three goals at Everton, they don’t concede too many, we scored four in the week against Brentford, so we’ve done the job.

“We have come through six or seven weeks when very little has gone for us; today I don’t know if it’s the right word in that it went for us but the goalkeeper made saves which he is there to do.

“I’d have to say I’m thrilled with the win, a wee bit of a throwback, but I really enjoyed it.”

Moyes reserved special praise for his goalkeeper, adding: “He probably made the difference, his performance was terrific.

“A lot of goalkeepers get praised for different things – the use of the ball – but most people from the era I come from it is the ones who save it with their hands and stop the ball going in the net most of the time and I thought he did that really well today.”

Neil Harris hailed his Millwall players for displaying the passion he believes the club is built on as they edged past Watford 1-0.

Harris left Cambridge at the end of February to return to The Den for his second spell in charge, and has since steered the Lions to back-to-back wins to keep them above the relegation zone.

Earlier in the week, Harris had spoken about “bringing the Millwall-ness back” to the club, and he felt he saw glimpses of that as Zian Flemming’s early free-kick sealed the three points.

“The football club belongs to the fanbase, so what do they want to see from their team?” said Harris.

“Well, the good teams I’ve played in and the good teams I’ve managed they had heart, they had character, they had passion, desire.

“We could challenge, we could run and we had some ability as well, and that’s all the fans want to see.

“It’s my job to teach this group of players what a Millwall team looks like and today, we had it in so many ways. We didn’t take care of the ball well enough at times, we lacked a little bit of confidence and belief here at The Den that we showed at Southampton with the ball.

“So, that’s something that we’ve got to drip feed into the players, but as in spirit and character and atmosphere in the stadium, that was really, really positive.”

The good feeling was sparked just three minutes in when Flemming’s deflected free-kick found the bottom corner despite Watford goalkeeper Ben Hamer getting hands to it.

Hamer was almost left red-faced for a second time when he allowed a long ball to drift past him, but he breathed a sigh of relief when Duncan Watmore’s effort from a narrow angle hit the post.

The Hornets had more possession in a second half sorely lacking in quality, but a long-range shot over by Ismael Kone and a simple save by Matija Sarkic from Jake Livermore was the best they
could muster.

It meant a fifth defeat in six league games that drew an angry reaction from their supporters after the final whistle and left the visitors in danger of being dragged into the scramble for survival.

Watford boss Valerien Ismael said: “I think throughout the 90 minutes we were not intimidated by the environment and that we were solid.

“We raised the performance from last week, we were unlucky from a deflected free-kick, we were one goal down.

“The only thing we said was just to stand the first 15-20 minutes, the most powerful energy from the game will be there, with the win last week, with the new manager.

“We were prepared for that but, unfortunately, we conceded exactly the goal there, but after that I didn’t think Millwall had the chance to score.

“We were under control, we were focused on ourselves and the performance in this kind of away game was good, but it doesn’t help us a lot at the moment.

“We need to win games, especially in this period of the season, and when you come on a run like this, it makes it difficult for the players.”

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna was delighted his side made it five wins in a row as they moved back up to second in the Sky Bet Championship with a 2-0 win at Plymouth.

A 63rd-minute own goal from Brendan Galloway and Kieffer Moore volley secured the win, while Argyle’s Mickel Miller hit a post and saw Town defender Luke Woolfenden clear his volley off the line.

McKenna said: “To win five in a row, when we have had some tough away games, that consistency is really pleasing.

“It was a really solid performance. Our organisation was good, our discipline was good and we were really competitive.

“We came out on top in more than our fair share of challenges and that gave us a really good foothold in the game in the first half.

“We knew it was going to be difficult. We knew we were going to have to stand up to a really strong home atmosphere and we had to stand up in difficult conditions, weather and pitch-wise.

“We did that really well and that gave us a really good platform at half-time to know we could push on…if we kept doing the right things, kept limiting their threats, we knew the chances would come our way and it was another really good second-half performance.

“We haven’t had too many games like this one. It was quite stop-start.

“We always back our fitness, our style, to some point it was not easy in the first half.

“We really felt confident that it would come good for us in the second half.

“The goal took a really big deflection but we had created chances either side of the goal so we felt a goal was coming.”

Argyle head coach Ian Foster said: “We don’t like losing games of football, especially here at Home Park, and obviously we are just really disappointed with the manner of the goal.

“It’s an unfortunate one for us. The shot was going wayward and it’s just hit Brendan and unfortunately ricocheted into the goal.

“The manner of that type of goal can affect you psychologically.

“It’s been an incredibly tough run of games here and we’ve given it our best shot, two of those teams we have played have shared second place today.

“We’ve tried to have right go – and I think we’ve done that again.

“We have shown that we can bounce back, so hopefully we can do that on Tuesday at Sheffield Wednesday.

“The players have been outstanding, fabulous.

“The first goal has just taken the wind out of our sails a little bit.

“If you look at their record, Ipswich have lost the least amount of games. We managed to stick with them for 63 minutes and then conceded a freak goal.

“If I have one criticism of us we didn’t react positively enough to that goal, and I get it, but you have to bounce back and show a little more resilience and character. But I don’t want to be too critical of the players.

“We can only take control of the next 90 minutes. We go to Sheffield Wednesday with confidence. We know the job in hand and have to go up there and give it our best.

“We haven’t lacked belief in any game, we go into every game trying to win. Today was a disappointing one for us but we won’t get too down about it.

“It’s just about taking it one game at a time. We won’t dwell on it, we just move on and get excited about the next game.”