Fulham boss Marco Silva insisted his goalkeeper Bernd Leno “touched” but “didn’t push” a ball boy during the Cottagers’ 3-0 defeat at Bournemouth.

The second-half incident occurred when Leno went to collect the ball from the youngster’s outstretched hand before using his own hand to make deliberate contact with the shoulder of the ball boy, who appeared to take a step back for balance.

Leno, who seemed to take issue with the speed at which the ball was being returned, and had already been booked, was subjected to a chorus of boos.

The 31-year-old German later returned to apologise to the boy for the encounter, though his manager was adamant the interaction had been exaggerated.

Silva said: “Have you seen him pushing? I didn’t see this. Yes, he apologised. I spoke with Bernd about it.

“It’s clear he went to speak with the boy after that moment as the top professional that he is, the really experienced player that he is as well.

“He wanted to play quick. The ball boys, I don’t know who gave them instructions to hold always the ball to delay the beginning of the game again. OK, we are losing, he ran to the ball. I didn’t see him pushing.

“He touched the ball boy, he didn’t push the ball boy. They are different things, when you touch a ball boy or you push a ball boy. I am not English but I know the difference between one word and the other, and we have to say the truth in that moment.”

The PA news agency understands no action will be taken over the incident.

It was a low point of a frustrating afternoon for Silva’s men, who fell behind when Justin Kluivert scored on the stroke of half-time and a penalty needlessly conceded by Joao Palhinha allowed Dominic Solanke to score his 12th goal of the Premier League season – already more than he registered in his first 96 appearances in the competition.

Luis Sinisterra added a third in stoppage time as the Cherries extended their unbeaten run to seven and consigned Fulham to a third straight loss following back-to-back 5-0 victories to start the month.

Asked if he had complained about what he felt was a deliberate delay by the ball boys, Silva replied: “I was really so upset with our performance that I didn’t even have the energy to start to complain.”

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola, who watched on from the stands as he served a touchline ban, said he had not seen a replay of the incident but, when asked if the ball boys had been instructed to slow down, replied: “No, no, for sure there is no instruction, for sure. This I can guarantee.

“I don’t know what happened exactly, but I think everyone for sure has to be careful because they are boys that are trying to help everyone, not only Bournemouth.”

The Cherries travel to Tottenham on New Year’s Eve having now taken 19 points from the last 21 available and matching their longest unbeaten Premier League run set in 2017-18.

“We want to keep it going,” Iraola said. “We’re not as bad as we looked at the beginning of the season, we’re not as good as we look now probably today. We’re somewhere in the middle.”

Southampton manager Russell Martin admitted he took no joy in thrashing old club Swansea 5-0.

Martin took charge of the Swans for two seasons before leaving to join Saints last summer – where he has now overseen a 16-match unbeaten run and seen his side close in on the Championship automatic-promotion places.

The former MK Dons boss, who was making his first reunion with the Swans, did a lap of honour after the match and was applauded by both sets of fans.

“I don’t take any more joy out of beating them,” said Martin.

“That reception from the Swansea fans made me really emotional, it was really incredible and I hope the Southampton fans understand why I applaud them.

“I love some of their players on the pitch. My feeling towards the people who run the football club, who are not in Wales, is completely detached from the feeling I have for the people in Wales.

“I didn’t know what I was expecting, they could have booed, I hoped not but we left.

“I really buy into clubs and so does my family – my son wanted a Jan Bednarek signed shirt for Christmas and he wore it all day, it is down to his ankles.

“We are loving our time here but we also loved our time at Swansea.”

Saints took the lead in the 17th minute when Joe Aribo slotted in for the first time since October 2022.

Samuel Edozie capitalised on goalkeeper Carl Rushworth’s air-kick to back-heel his fifth goal of the season before Ryan Fraser came off the bench to emphatically finish twice, and Che Adams added a fifth.

The performance was a reward for Martin giving his players Christmas Day off.

He said: “I gave the players Christmas Day off because they are human-beings.

“If I’m going to preach to them about how important family is and being able to separate reality from this then to say they have to come in on Christmas Day is unfair.

“It would only have been the right thing if we won, if we lost then it would be the reason why we lost. They really repaid me today.”

Swansea interim boss Alan Sheehan is holding talks over his future later on Saturday.

The Irishman said: “I will be speaking to the owners after the game. Right now, I have to debrief that game.

“I understand everyone wants clarity but I can only get the team prepared.”

Swansea only had one shot on target.

Sheehan added: “We came here with the intention of going toe to toe with one of the best teams in the league.

“For large periods of the game we were massively in the game but the second goal kills us – it was a sucker-punch.

“I didn’t like a lot of the second half to be honest, it was unacceptable. We gifted them goals at times and made it hard for ourselves.

“It was unacceptable but I’ll take responsibility. We want to be brave but we caused ourselves problems at times.”

Norwich head coach David Wagner admitted he would be having words with Borja Sainz, whose early red card potentially cost his side in the 1-0 Championship defeat against West Brom at The Hawthorns.

Winger Sainz was sent off in the 34th minute for two bookable offences within five minutes – the second for a needless dissent – after twice going close to giving the Canaries the lead.

Brandon Thomas-Asante’s 50th-minute goal sealed the points for the Baggies, who cemented their place of fifth in the table

“When you’re on a booking, you can’t ask for another yellow,” said Wagner, whose side lost their five-match unbeaten run as a result.

“Everyone knows this – this rule has not been since yesterday and this rule exists all over the world.

“So it’s something you can’t do, especially if you’ve been booked and this is why – even if it’s a harsh decision – it was the correct decision and there is no one to blame but Borja himself.

“I have to speak with him and I will do, for sure, but officially and not in public.

“If he takes what’s right out of this situation – and I’ll make sure he takes what’s right – it will be another step in his progression.

“We’ll support him but it’s my job to speak about the truth as well.”

Wagner stopped short of saying the dismissal cost Norwich the game, but it made for a change of plan at half-time.

“On one side, yes it changed the game and cost us the game, but on the other side, it doesn’t mean that you are automatically not without an chance,” he added.

“I said at half-time: ‘Is it difficult? Yes, super difficult. Is it possible? It is, so let’s go for it’.”

West Brom wasted chances galore before Thomas-Asante’s winner, with John Swift missing six openings, including hitting the post and missing a kick in front of goal.

But Norwich could have snatched an equaliser but for goalkeeper Alex Palmer keeping out substitute Ui-Jo Hwang’s shot in the 77th minute.

West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan felt his side were on top, regardless of the sending off.

“The result was fair, from the way the game was going against 11 players and the way it went when we were against 10,” he said.

“I know the group wanted to take responsibility when they think something hasn’t gone well and we never want to make excuses.”

Thomas-Asante has now eclipsed his Albion tally of seven goals last season and Corberan felt the striker was back to his best.

“I wanted to see a reaction from the previous game because in the last game, I didn’t see his real level,” he added. “Today I saw him competing much better.

“I think sometimes – depending on the context of the game – it switches towards the advantages of one player.

“He’s not good at every single thing, but the important thing for him is to know what type of striker he is and play with the maximum mentality that he needs to play with.”

Liam Manning promised that his Bristol City side will get even better after their 4-1 victory at Watford.

The Robins thoroughly deserved their triumph, their third straight win under former Oxford boss Manning, who arrived at Ashton Gate last month.

It was also their first on the road under Manning, and City’s first back-to-back triple since November 2020.

Manning said: “We’re going in the right direction but I told the players afterwards that we can play better than that.

“That’s what excites me about the group. The challenge is to strive every day to improve, but there were so many positives today.

“Three or four weeks ago, I was giving interviews saying how it would come together for us, and it would happen.

“I’m delighted for the players. They’ve stayed level and grounded, they haven’t got too flat when we’ve lost or super high when we’ve won, and that’s the most important bit – head down and work hard.

“The game plan worked, I’m very fortunate to have a staff who are as obsessive and intense as me.

“They put a lot of hours in to create what we want to do. And huge credit goes to the players in the way they implement it.”

That game plan saw City go ahead in the 28th minute. Watford midfielder Edo Kayembe’s attempt to head clear from Taylor Gardner-Hickman’s free-kick fell straight to Cameron Pring, who hammered home.

Then, two minutes into first-half added time, Watford skipper Wesley Hoedt put Tommy Conway’s cross into his own goal – without a City player anywhere near.

Substitute Giorgi Chakvetadze narrowed the lead four minutes into the second half, only for Mark Sykes to make it 3-1 almost from the restart.

City replacement Andreas Weimann killed off the game with City’s fourth in the 83rd minute against his former side as Watford stood vainly waiting for the offside flag after the Austrian had been set free by Joe Williams’ pass.

Watford boss Valerien Ismael had been hoping to see his side break into the top six, but he said: “It’s a big disappointment.

“We gave the game away from the first minute. We made too many mistakes, which made it difficult to give a fluid display.

“What summed up the match was when he came back into it at 2-1 and then conceded. That was sloppy. We beat ourselves. We have to take control of the ball more.

“We have to always stay on a level where we can win the game. But against City we beat ourselves – it’s as simple as that.

“We never had control. Fatigue is no excuse – it’s the same for every team. We know we have the solution, but on the other hand we must make sure that everyone can perform at the correct level.”

Bolton boss Ian Evatt hailed his side’s persistence after a last-gasp 1-0 win at 10-man Lincoln.

The resolute Imps looked to have held on for a hard-fought point after Danny Mandriou was sent off in the second half.

But Eoin Toal sent Evatt and the traveling Wanderers fans into scenes of jubilation with his dramatic 89th-minute winner.

“I thought we played so good,” said Evatt. “I thought we dominated from start to finish.

“We had moments we didn’t take, but we kept the belief and kept the faith.

“It shows you the value of set plays. It was easy to throw the ball in at that stage, but against 10 men it’s harder so we utilised the space around the edge and it worked.

“I wish I could bottle up that feeling because what a feeling that was in front of the away end.

“I was really pleased with the performance because I was delighted with the way we played.

“When you have the ball for so long and it’s wave after wave, it was just relentless and eventually we got what we deserved.”

The Trotters cut the gap with the top two after Portsmouth were stunned at Bristol Rovers and Peterborough were held to a late draw.

But Evatt, whose side are two points off Posh with a game in hand, stressed: “It’s getting tight at the top.

“Everyone spoke about the strength of the league, when you look at the pace the top five, six are setting and the points they’re stacking up, it’s large quantities of points.

“For us, we’re not even halfway through the season. There’s so much football to play.

“There’s no talk of this or that. We just focus on the next game. It’s really boring to say but that’s the way it has to be.”

Lincoln slipped to a second successive defeat and are four games without a win.

On Mandriou’s second sending off of the season, boss Michael Skubala said: “It’s a really tough one to take. We had 20 minutes with 10 men, the lads were digging deep and 89th minute, it’s hard to take.

“I thought we deserved something out of the game.

“The red card is a game-changing moment, there’s no doubt about that. I can’t stand here and say it’s not a game-changing moment.

“I don’t really want to talk about Danny if I’m honest, I want to talk about the warriors who for 20 minutes looked like they were going to get something out of the game.

“I thought they were brilliant to a man and we were so unlucky not to come away with something. Getting something out of that game would have been a proud performance from those 10 men.

“He will apologise. He knows. I don’t think it’s about Danny, these situations are about the other guys.

“I was really proud of the crowd, they were amazing. When we were under the cosh you could hear them and we will need that in the next few weeks and months as we’re depleted.”

Darren Moore wants Huddersfield to start looking up the Championship table rather than over their shoulder after putting distance to the relegation zone with a 3-0 win over Blackburn.

Jaheim Headley’s low strike handed the Terriers a first-half advantage which was added to after the break by Sorba Thomas and Delano Burgzorg as Moore’s men opened up a five-point gap to the bottom three.

There are a cluster of teams just above the Terriers in the second tier now and, with Middlesbrough visiting this Friday, Moore wants his side’s mindset to be looking upwards rather than down.

He said: “It’s about changing the mindset of the club and the perception and us as a group of players, fans, and everything else. We just want to continue looking up the league and seeing who we can catch above.

“That’s got to be the mindset really, in terms of it was a good three points today, and we focus on Friday for another real rough encounter, another good team coming into town and for myself and the group, we know we’re under no illusions how difficult that game is going to be.

“The biggest thing for us today, we knew Blackburn are a very, very good fluid team with the ball, they move it around really well but we knew the transitions would be massive today.

“We knew if we could get part one right in terms of our work off the ball, we knew when it turned over there would be areas to exploit and we managed to do that.”

Blackburn boss Jon Dahl Tomasson labelled his side’s performance their worst of the season so far, with one of the few positives being the fact they have a clash later this week against Hull to bounce back.

He said: “I think it was a disappointing result and a disappointing performance. We all knew coming here Huddersfield is around the relegation zone and they are fighting.

“You need a top performance and we didn’t do that, it was probably the worst performance during the season.

“It’s not a performance we’re used to seeing, so it’s of course extremely disappointing.

“I think when we conceded the first goal, initially there was nothing wrong in conceding the first goal, but it gave confidence to the crowd and for the Huddersfield players and then we were chasing the game. I must apologise to our fans, almost 3,000 fans that have travelled, it’s not positive today at all.

“The good thing with football is that there’s a game in a couple of days and I think that’s positive. That’s one of the things that is positive today, but the rest is not good.”

George Lloyd was described as “unplayable” by Cheltenham assistant boss Adam Murray after the striker’s brace helped the Robins move off the bottom of the League One table with a 2-0 home win over Shrewsbury.

Lloyd nodded in the hosts’ opener in the first half before sealing matters with a second goal five minutes from time.

Cheltenham have now picked up five wins from 12 games under boss Darrell Clarke and assistant Murray hailed Lloyd’s impact on his return to the starting XI.

“From what I’ve seen of Lloydy, he is one unbelievable player,” Murray said.

“I know he’s been at the club a long time and probably not got the goals that his work-rate and talent deserves.

“I know in the past, Micky Moore (former director of football, now at Shrewsbury) has worked really hard to keep him at the club and it’s
paid dividends because when he is like that, he truly is unplayable.

“I’d imagine if we cut him open, his heart would be as big as him.”

Lloyd nodded in Liam Sercombe’s free-kick from the right in the 34th minute to put the fast-improving Robins on course in front of their highest home turnout of the campaign.

And Lloyd touched in Tom Bradbury’s downward header from Sean Long’s corner to seal the points five minutes from the end.

Sercombe tested Marko Marosi with a powerful drive in the ninth minute, but chances were at a premium in a cagey first half.

A low shot from Shrews midfielder Carl Winchester was well blocked by Lewis Freestone and Winchester blasted one wide against his old club before Lloyd’s opener.

Taylor Perry fizzed a shot wide early in the second half for the visitors, before Cheltenham nearly doubled their lead in the 63rd minute.

The outstanding Lloyd set up ex-Shrews striker Rob Street, who saw his effort cleared off the line by Jordan Shipley.

Ben Williams had a free-kick touched over the bar by Marosi and another set-piece from the left wing-back crashed against the bar in the 81st minute, before Lloyd had the final say.

Shrewsbury boss Matt Taylor lost two more players to injury at the Completely-Suzuki Stadium, with Perry and Daniel Udoh both hobbling off.

“Everything that can go against us at the moment, is,” Taylor said. “We’ve got to come out swinging.

“I’ve never known a treatment room at any football club to be so full. We’re stretched at the moment.

“While we’re disappointed at the moment though, fast forward three days and we have a chance to put things right (in Friday’s game at Burton).

“It’s a tough day because we didn’t see anything from Cheltenham that we didn’t prepare for. You can’t give the opposition two goals from set-plays, though.

“The way we defended at those two set-plays and to give two free headers is nowhere good enough. We didn’t make the opposition work too hard for those two goals.

“The fans will have left here feeling very frustrated, as I will, because today is nowhere good enough by any stretch of the imagination for this football club.”

Brendan Rodgers is hopeful Cameron Carter-Vickers will brush off his Dens Park injury concern to face Rangers.

The Celtic manager also gave his strongest suggestion yet that Reo Hatate and Liel Abada could feature in Saturday’s derby.

The champions ensured they will go into the Parkhead clash on top of the cinch Premiership by beating Dundee 3-0 thanks to Paulo Bernardo’s first Celtic goal and substitute Mikey Johnston’s late double.

But the sight of Carter-Vickers walking off with the physio shortly after the 52nd-minute opener briefly curtailed the visiting fans’ celebrations.

The influential centre-back missed two-and-a-half games with a hamstring complaint earlier this month and Celtic fans will hope the latest issue does not lead to a similar outcome.

“He’s hopefully OK,” Rodgers said. “He felt a bit of tightness and we had said to him before that he didn’t need to be a hero. If he felt anything, just come off. We’re hoping he’s OK but we’ll find out in the next couple of days.”

Abada last played for Celtic in their victory at Ibrox on September 3 before suffering a thigh injury while training with Israel. Hatate has been out for two months with a hamstring injury.

“They could be around it,” Rodgers said. “It’s another thing being ready to start, of course. Liel looked really good on the field when he trained with the group (on Christmas Day).

“We kept him at home to do another session to build him up. We’ve missed his running, his goals. He’ll be brilliant for us for the second part of the season.

“Reo is at a good level but not a level to start. We’ll see how he goes over these next few days.

“He’s training hard, working well and it will be like having two new players when we get those two back.”

Celtic also saw Bernardo and Johnston give themselves a major morale boost. The on-loan Benfica midfielder poked home from close range before Johnston cut in from the left to fire his first Celtic goal since December 2019 and then added another following a one-two with Matt O’Riley.

Rodgers said: “For Paulo it was really, really good. He’s such a mature player for a young player.

“Mikey can make that impact. The challenge for Mikey was the fact that he had played a lot of games back to back, and he hasn’t done that much for Celtic.

“It can give him confidence. The beauty with Mikey is that he’s stayed fit. It’s up to him whether he’s going to be a Celtic player, but we keep working with him and we feel he can come into the game and make an impact.”

Celtic had 37 shots at goal and 23 corners but Dundee manager Tony Docherty felt his side had shown a good defensive structure in the first half.

“It was important that we kept that defensive structure but I just felt they had a couple of chances just before that making those trademark Celtic runs down the side, and they get their goal,” he said. “I thought it was really fortunate.

“But once they get that first goal, then you see Celtic and the quality they bring off the bench. They are a real quality team.”

Cardiff boss Erol Bulut is set to sit down with club owner Vincent Tan this week to thrash out a January transfer window policy in the wake of his side’s 2-2 home draw with Plymouth.

The Bluebirds went 2-1 up before Morgan Whittaker added his second goal of the game in the 66th minute, and his 12th of the season, to bring the visitors back on level terms.

“It is the first time I have met Vincent Tan in person. We will have a meeting about January and I hope for positive messages in terms of transfers and what we can do in January,” said Bulut.

“I don’t know what we can do, but I hope we can do something. We need some players, quality players that can push us on and keep the level high.

“We know what kind of players we need, although January is always difficult – nobody wants to give their best players away.”

Wales and Bournemouth striker Kiefer Moore is top of Bulut’s New Year wish list. Bulut plays attack minded football, but is not getting the return he needs from his forwards.

“We managed the first half better than the second half. We made small mistakes in the build-up, and the confidence was the same as in the first half,” he added.

“In the end, we could have won the game when Callum Robbo passed to Karlan Grant. It was a game that was 50-50 from both sides, with chances nearly the same.

“They pushed a lot in the second half and created a few chances. In the end, it is one-point and we have to live with that.”

For managerless Argyle, it was back-to-back draws with a trip to high-flying Southampton to come on Friday night.

Whittaker’s two goals earned them the point, but they gifted their hosts an own goal in the first half with a misdirected back pass from Matt Butcher.

“The players were devastated in the dressing room. We had more than enough chances to win the game and it was an opportunity missed,” said Argyle’s caretaker boss Neil Dewsnip.

“We had to work really hard for our two goals, so to gift them a goal Was unfortunate. Morgan is in a rich vein of form and scored twice.

“But Bali Mumba hit the crossbar late on and he knows he let himself and his team-mates down. He should have scored from there.

“We haven’t won yet since Stephen (Schumacher) left and I’m desperate to win. The players are galvanised and they have moved on from Stephen’s departure.

“He did a great job for Argyle and we wish him well at Stoke City. But the players are now waiting for a new manager.

“We’ve had more than 100 applications so far and the important thing is for us to get the appointment right, not to rush it.”

Luton boss Rob Edwards said South Yorkshire Police are investigating an alleged racist comment towards Carlton Morris in his side’s Boxing Day win at Sheffield United.

The striker complained of a comment made from the home crowd late in the second half, which left him “pretty angry”, and the police have spoken to him.

It soured what was a great day for Morris as he came off the bench to create two own goals in four minutes which earned the Hatters a vital 3-2 victory in the crunch basement Premier League battle at Bramall Lane.

Edwards said: “There was an alleged racist comment, the police are dealing with that, they have spoken to Carlton and got his take on it, so it is with them now; I have no more comment on it.

“He is alright – he was, at the time, pretty angry but he seems fine now.”

United boss Chris Wilder added: “There was a comment that was made and the referee came over to speak to me and Rob from a racial point of view, which is obviously not great if found to be the case.”

The Blades were on course for an important victory as second-half goals from Oli McBurnie and Anel Ahmedhodzic overturned Alfie Doughty’s first-half opener for the Hatters.

But substitute Morris was the orchestrator as Jack Robinson and Anis Slimane put through their own net to give Luton back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time.

They will now believe survival is a real possibility going into the second half of the campaign.

Edwards, who celebrated his birthday on Christmas Day, said: “It brings us closer to where we want to be. Back-to-back and within four days we have two thirds of the points we already had, it’s big for us.

“We all know it was a big game, they all are, it was important and it was very, very special to do it in the end, one that we will remember for a long time.

“We have won these two games in a row, the performances are going the right way, we have been consistent for a long time and we are getting rewards for our performances.”

Wilder claimed his side “chucked it away” as their chances of beating the drop continue to get slimmer, having amassed just nine points at the halfway stage.

He said: “We chucked it away. Don’t take this as a dig against our opponents but there will be a lot of talk about character and getting themselves back into the game with a never-say-die attitude and all that, it’s nothing to do with that.

“It’s to do with our attitude to defending. It cost us on Friday night (at Aston Villa) and it has cost us tonight.

“It’s an attitude to defending and I’d be saying the same thing if I was a manager at any other club in the pyramid.

“They haven’t had to do anything to get back in the game, we have basically handed them the game. We should be talking about a home win, not them getting two to take the points.

“I don’t think it was earned by them, it was given by us.”

Proud Reading boss Ruben Selles saluted his team’s spirit and progress after they pocketed a precious point at promotion-chasing Peterborough.

The struggling Royals twice battled back from behind to share the spoils with the League One top-scorers, as goals from Sam Smith and Femi Azeez cancelled out efforts from Josh Knight and Ephron Mason-Clark.

Reading remain in the bottom four of League One, but Selles said: “The point is good for us, but the performance we produced and knowing we can compete in this type of game is even better.

“Peterborough are one of the best opponents in the division and getting a result here is very difficult, so I’m proud of my team.

“We had some problems as it was a new team with a lot of new characters. It took a little bit of time for us to find the connection but I think they have found it now. For me it is a pleasure to work with these players.

“The target is to be a team that is difficult to beat, that want to play together, that want to fight together and want to do great things which we showed today.

“Femi has become a very important player for us. He can make the difference with the assist and the goal, but he is also a big part of what we do defensively.”

Reading fell behind to Knight’s header six minutes before the break and were fortunate not to concede two penalties in the opening half.

Second-placed Posh then saw a Hector Kyprianou strike ruled out for offside just before substitute Smith squeezed in a 63rd-minute equaliser.

Azeez hit a post before Mason-Clark again put Reading on the ropes by restoring Posh’s lead in the 69th minute.

But the visitors refused to roll over as Azeez levelled with five minutes to go to secure just their fifth away point.

Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson said: “I’m disappointed not to win a game that I felt we deserved to win.

“We twice led in the game, we had 20 shots and 16 corners, but the one thing we couldn’t do was get ourselves into a two-goal lead.

“I think we should have had penalties and I’m told Hector was onside when he scored, but what can you do? Everyone makes mistakes.

“Our response to conceding a goal was fantastic to go and get 2-1 up, but we just couldn’t kill the game off and ended up giving away a sloppy goal late on.

“There are going to be plenty of dropped points – especially over this period – but we’re on a really good run and we keep going.

“Reading are a good team and the manager is doing a good job. I don’t know why they are where they are.

“I knew it would be a very tough game and that proved to be the case.”

Steve Evans insisted his Stevenage side should have scored more as they beat Northampton 3-0 to remain in the League One play-off spots.

Jamie Reid put the hosts ahead after just two minutes before Jordan Roberts’ 42nd-minute cross evaded Max Thompson to double the lead.

Elliott List added a third midway through the second half to seal all three points against a Cobblers side who failed to have a shot on target.

Evans said: “If we are being honest Northampton got away lightly today, but it is a really good side with really good players. We tried getting some (of them) ourselves.

“We are pleased we have won the game and the supporters were entitled to that at home but we have seen a real good performance.”

Stevenage remain two points ahead of seventh but they are now only two points behind Peterborough in the automatic promotion places.

Evans, who led Boro to promotion from League Two last season, added: “We spoke to the boys about the period over Christmas and with the win today it leaves us a point behind where we expected but sometimes performances over the long period are good.

“There is no disputing that when you hear the Barnsley staff saying that (Boro’s 2-1 defeat at Oakwell on Saturday) was the best away performance of the season, we carried that forward today into this performance.

“Coming away from Barnsley they knew what they deserved but what you have with this group is fantastic and they work hard by backing each other.

“We shouldn’t forget that if we get a result here on Friday against Cambridge, we go into next year in the top four and that was unthinkable back in June and certainly unthinkable back in March.”

Northampton struggled after going behind early, and it took until the second half until they had a shot, which was a speculative free-kick from distance.

Northampton manager Jon Brady said: “It was hugely disappointing the goals we conceded, and especially conceding early on in the manner that we did.

“You can’t give the first goal away like that, it wasn’t good defending. The second one was a fluke goal that just loops in and again that shouldn’t happen.

“The third is also bad defending and put us on the back foot.

“It gave us a hugely tough afternoon and we will have to gain perspective and it is a difficult Christmas schedule and I have to manage bodies.

“Today wasn’t a good performance. I feel sorry for the fans but the performance wasn’t to the standard we require.”

Paul Simpson insisted there was plenty of time for Carlisle to stave off the threat of relegation following the 1-1 draw at Fleetwood.

The Cumbrians led through Owen Moxon’s goal after 27 minutes but were pegged back eight minutes later by a Jayden Stockley strike.

And while the point did not prevent Simpson’s side from slipping to the bottom of the table, he will not be pushing the panic button.

“It’s not pleasant,” he said.

“We’re in a tough position at the moment and we’ve dropped to the bottom of the league today, which nobody wants to see.

“Thankfully we’ve got lots of games to try to turn it around, we’ve got the January transfer window to try to strengthen the group and hopefully we’ll be able to do that.

“We’ve got to improve the squad and we’ve got to improve our consistency when we’re making opportunities.

“We were massively improved from the last game, without a doubt.

“I think we probably deserved more than just one point out of the game today as well so that’s a bit of a disappointment, but I’m really satisfied with the way that the players have gone about it, particularly a young starting XI.

“They gave us energy, they had a real desire about them, it’s just a pity we didn’t manage to finish off those chances we had.

“It’s a huge improvement after the last game. I thought we passed the ball quite well on what was a tricky surface, but at least it was a nice calm day today.

“We worked and competed well, we did all of the things that we would want to do, we got ourselves in the lead and I’m disappointed with the goal we conceded, we could have worked harder to stop it coming in.”

Fleetwood also slipped a place to sit second from bottom and manager Lee Johnson also feels their fortunes should improve when they welcome back some of their walking wounded.

“The boys are working hard,” he said.

“The last game at Portsmouth was a sapping game in terms of the energy levels, I thought it was a low-quality game today, if I’m honest.

“We let them off the hook far too many times when we had set-play opportunities, when we got into wide areas we demanded more from our wide men and a little bit changed.

“We have to be honest and say we lacked quality at times but we’re asking the same set of lads to churn it out at the moment when we’ve got so many injured.

“We’re hobbling into January but it’s important that we quickly refresh again.

“We just need more players to turn up, we need more to get back to their top form, some are nursing little niggles but they will have to keep getting out there because it’s all we’ve got.

“It’s going to be a really big January for us, I have a points target in my head, I’ll keep that to myself but it’s achievable.

“It’s going to be tight. In the next few weeks we’re going to have to nurse players back to health. I feel like in five or six weeks we could be in a good spot.”

Coventry manager Mark Robins was left fuming with the decision to send off Liam Kitching, which took some of the shine off his side’s 2-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday.

Kitching was shown a red card after the final whistle at the Coventry Building Society Arena after referee Oliver Langford judged him to have retaliated to being pushed by Wednesday’s Bambo Diaby, who was also sent off.

That controversial incident came after two goals from Tatsuhiro Sakamoto had guided the Sky Blues to their second straight win in the festive period.

Robins said: “I didn’t see what had happened, but I’ve seen it back now and I’m appealing that.

“There’s no way he can be sent off for that, no way.

“The kid’s come from behind him and it’s assault; he’s pushed him in his face, so where does he go?

“He can’t go anywhere because he’s come into his space, so he (Diaby) has pushed him, he’s then stuck his head on his head and Kitch hasn’t reacted.

“Whether he’s put his hands up to stop it, I don’t know, but it’s an attack, it’s ridiculous and then he’s come back for seconds, so 100 per cent I’m appealing it. I’m furious.

“What happened at the end can sort of detract from a performance that was actually pretty good.

“Two brilliant goals, well worked and well finished and Tatsu’s been doing that, he’s been growing in confidence, he’s taking shots now.”

It was a slightly scuffed finish with which Sakamoto gave Coventry the lead after 20 minutes when he was picked out by Haji Wright’s cut-back.

The Japan international sealed the points in the 89th minute with a fine finish past Cameron Dawson, not long before tempers boiled over following the end of the game.

Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl said: “I think it was a fair-play game, there were not bad fouls or anything like this.

“It’s a hard decision, for both a red card after the game, but it’s the decision from the ref and we can’t change it.

“This is football but it’s not helpful for us at the moment because we’ve now got Callum (Paterson) out for the next games and Bambo out for the next games.

“I tried everything to bring some fresh legs in, but this is what our situation is at the moment, this is what we’ve been handed and it’s about preparing for our next game (at Preston), recovery and then going again.”

On his side’s performance, Rohl added: “I think you saw two different halves.

“First half, Coventry was the better team. We were not clinical in our transition in the first half, but in the second half I think we dominated the game.”

Oxford boss Des Buckingham was far happier with his team’s second-half showing after they came from behind at the break to beat Cambridge 2-1 at the Kassam Stadium.

Cambridge led through Jordan Cousins’ goal at a corner after 30 minutes – and they should have been further ahead at half-time with James Brophy missing a great chance to make it 2-0.

Tyler Goodrham, who came into Oxford’s side because left winger Josh Murphy was injured, scored a brilliant solo equaliser nine minutes after the break, cutting in from the left and firing into the far corner from 22 yards.

Defender Ciaron Brown then headed in a winner five minutes into stoppage time when Cambridge goalkeeper Jack Stevens could only beat out Cameron Brannagan’s long-range drive.

It was only Buckingham’s second league win in seven games.

He said: “It was a nice way for us to finish the game.

“I said to the players at half-time that we needed to move the ball quicker and stick to our beliefs.

“I’m extremely happy with the response.

“Tyler has been very patient, he’s been coming on as a substitute a couple of times since I’ve been here.

“It’s about coming on or coming in and having an impact and Tyler’s done that extremely well.

“Losing Josh Murphy before the game was a blow.

“If you look at his record, Tyler doesn’t just score goals, he scores goals at important moments.

“It hopefully gives me a tough selection problem now for our next game against Derby.

“We were much better in the second half. We needed more speed and to move the ball quicker, and we did that.

“The changes we made and fresh legs coming on helped keep that sharpness on the field.”

Oxford’s dramatic late victory came after they lost to a last-minute goal in their last match at Northampton on Saturday.

Buckingham said: “We spoke about sticking to what we wanted to do.

“At Northampton we saw a loose structure coming in which cause us a lot of chaos.

“Teams come to us and sometimes want to settle for a point. We’re not happy with a point – we always want to go for three.”

Cambridge head coach Neil Harris said: “I feel for the players.

“We were that good first half we should have been three or four goals clear at half-time.

“We’ve got to be more ruthless in their penalty area.

“The quality of some of our play was outstanding but we have to take more responsibility in front of goal.

“We’re playing against a team that is fifth in the league and who topped the table for quite some time, so to come here and dominate as we did in the first half was impressive.”