Stephen Robinson believes there is more to come from his St Mirren side after they moved top of the cinch Premiership with a 2-1 victory over Dundee.

The Buddies have won their opening two fixtures of the season and find themselves three points clear at the summit of the league table following a well-deserved success at the SMISA Stadium.

Joe Shaughnessy’s own goal and Mikael Mandron’s header had the hosts in control at half-time, though Josh Mulligan netted to set up a nervy conclusion.

Having thrown away a 2-0 lead against Hibernian in their last fixture before clinching a late victory, there was clear tension when Dundee clawed a goal back and Robinson is looking for more composure from his team.

“Result wise it has been very good. In both games we’ve went 2-0 up, lot’s of good quality – in the first half we should have been up by more,” he said.

“We need a little bit more composure in managing the game, it became a little bit frantic and panicky but we still created chances.

“We were resolute and showed real determination to hang on. We’ve managed to pick up results while we’re improving and I think we’ll continue to improve.”

St Mirren recorded their first ever top-six finish in the Premiership last season and Robinson’s side have continued their excellent form into the new campaign.

The Saints gaffer believes team spirit has been key to their success and insists everyone is striving to make the club better.

“The boys that came in took their chances today. I just think it’s the characters we’ve got in the squad, there’s a never-say-die attitude,” he added.

“When times are hard and you’re struggling you need to be able to look around and know you can trust the people next to you – I feel like the squad do that, they trust the staff and the people that we are trying to make the club better bit by bit within our means.”

Dundee boss Tony Docherty says his side must learn quickly after falling to their first defeat since promotion to the Premiership.

Zach Robinson missed a penalty during what was a well below-par showing from the Dark Blues in the first half.

They would put in a much improved display after the restart, but it was to be a case of too little too late.

“I felt we didn’t start the game well and St Mirren were by far the better team in the first half,” Docherty said.

“In the second half we changed the shape and we were really unlucky not to get a point and maybe even go on and win it if we’d got that second goal.

“I’ve got experience of this league, it’s punishing and if you don’t take your opportunities then it’ll come back and bite you – that happened today.

“We need to learn quick. In both games we’ve played, we’ve probably merited more points than we’ve taken.

“There’s a lot of boys it’s their first time playing in the Premier League, the positive to take is we’ve shown we are good enough.”

Michael Beale spoke of “a rough week behind the scenes” ending on a high after a late Rangers surge gave them a 4-0 cinch Premiership win over Livingston at Ibrox.

The Govan outfit came in for heavy criticism after losing their league opener 1-0 at Kilmarnock last weekend and there were still some misgivings after the Gers beat Servette 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier at home on Wednesday night.

On a day that midfielder Jose Cifuentes made his first start, Sam Lammers opened the scoring with a drive after 10 minutes but it was a struggle thereafter until Brazilian attacker Danilo headed in a second in the 78th minute, with further goals from substitutes Abdallah Sima and Kieran Dowell putting gloss on the scoreline.

Beale said: “The game was in three parts. The first part we started really well and scored a really good first goal.

“Todd (Cantwell) did great linking with Cyriel (Dessers) and it was nice for Sam to get his first official goal.

“Cifuentes had a fantastic debut but after his goal gets called off (for handball) we slowed down and got stuffy.

“We spoke about that but it didn’t improve till the subs came on. If anything part of our play was wasteful when we had good moments.

“There was tension in the stadium. We had some good moments when we should have killed things off and didn’t.

“Fair play to Sima and Rabbi (Matondo), they gave us what we needed and took us up the pitch and we got back to where we started in the game. We improved and I’m pleased that those three then got their first goals too.

“So it was a mixed bag. It was a rough week behind the scenes. Players going into the first home game in the league in a season when we are under more than a little bit of pressure.

“For the new guys they rode every emotion this week. That’s why at the end of the week when I pick the bones out of it I’ll be positive rather than pessimistic.

“The new guys have scored their goals, Dujon (Sterling) had his debut, Jose was excellent and Jack (Butland) has his first clean sheet so all in all, the week has ended better than it started.”

Livi boss David Martindale was somewhat bemused to leave Ibrox on the back of such a negative scoreline.

He said: “Goals change games. Believe it or not, I was sitting there thinking that (goalkeeper) Shamal George had a good game but he’s picked the ball out of the net four times.

“I think this has been my 10th year at Livingston and we’ve played Rangers in eight of those years.

“I’ve been battered in games, I’ve lost them 1-0, I’ve lost them 2-0. I think this is my heaviest defeat at Ibrox and I genuinely think we’ve been in the game for 78 minutes.

“We managed to nullify a lot of the threats that Rangers posed, so I was fairly happy.

“Listen, we can do better at the first goal, but I genuinely thought we could get a goal at 1-0.

“I was just about to make a couple of changes before the second goal went in, but we allowed a cross to come in from (Borna) Barisic which we knew they were going to do and we didn’t defend the back stick well enough.

“Rangers got huge energy, confidence and momentum from the crowd because up until that point, the game could have swung – they looked like they could score again and we looked like we could get one back.

“I’m frustrated, but also proud of the players up to a certain level, and also disappointed for them. I could see how much they put into it.”

Shaun Maloney admits his Wigan Athletic side are “ahead of schedule” after starting their Sky Bet League One campaign with two successive wins following a 2-1 victory over Northampton at the DW Stadium.

Having started the campaign with an eight-point deduction for financial issues last season, Wigan are now only two points from wiping out that deficit after a flying start.

Two goals in the last 20 minutes from Charlie Hughes and Callum McManaman gave them victory over Northampton, who had led through a Sam Hoskins free-kick after 24 minutes.

Maloney’s men would move into positive points with another win at Carlisle on Tuesday.

“It’s been a really positive start in the league,” he said.

“We set ourselves a target of six games to get into positive points, so we’re maybe a little ahead of schedule.

“But we know what football can do.

“In terms of today’s game, I thought it opened up in the last 20 minutes, but we had a brilliant feeling at the end.

“And all the credit has to go to the players.

“It was the players that had to see out the last half an hour at Derby, where we had to defend for our lives.

“We had to do the same here for the last 10 minutes plus seven minutes of injury time.

“But the mentality of the young group, I think it’s always a bit of an unknown.

“And we had some big, big performances today to get us over the line.”

Wigan’s matchwinner was McManaman, who is in his third spell at the club, having won a 12-month deal in the summer after training with the side since Maloney’s arrival in January.

“I thought he was brilliant in the first half against Derby, but he’s had a knock on his hip,” added the Wigan boss.

“I would have liked to have started him today, and I ended up needing him longer than I wanted.

“But it was a brilliant day for Callum.

“I’ve seen the progression he’s made while he’s been back here, all the work he’s put in, and I’m so, so happy for him.”

For Northampton boss Jon Brady, it was a case of what might have been.

“It’s a step up in standard and, if you don’t defend right, you get punished, and we were today,” he said.

“We’re still getting there, but today’s performance gave me a lot of confidence in the group.

“On a big pitch like this, it’s very difficult to step on and press like we did in the first half.

“And that’s a big reason why we couldn’t step on as much in the second half.

“We scored a very good goal, that’s the quality Sam possesses.

“We also hit the post, but I’ll compliment Wigan here.

“The blocks in the box won them the game today.

“A lot of our opportunities were what I’d want from my team.

“But their attitude, their never-say-die, their never-give-up, was really commendable.”

Both Brady and his assistant Colin Caldwerwood were yellow carded in the final half an hour by referee Ross Joyce.

“McManaman has poleaxed one of my players, and the referee has done nothing about that,” he added.

“And the fourth official pretends he hasn’t seen it, which is disappointing.

“It’s just the consistency and the dark arts they were using.

“But I’ll leave it there before I say too much.”

Lincoln boss Mark Kennedy has challenged his side to attack their home games after a 3-0 victory over Wycombe.

Second-half goals from Reeco Hackett-Fairchild, Teddy Bishop and Daniel Mandroiu did the damage as the impressive Imps claimed maximum points against the Chairboys at the LNER Stadium.

Forward Hackett-Fairchild rifled the hosts ahead with a sweet 68th-minute strike, before substitute midfielder Bishop doubled the lead just five minutes later with a clinical first-time finish.

Irishman Daniel Mandroiu finished the job with a fine effort five minutes from time.

“I was really pleased,” beamed Kennedy.

“I said to the guys just before they went out that all we needed was a few W’s to our name.

“It was nice to get a win and really nice to get a performance. It’s nice when you see it on the training ground, but it’s even better when it comes off.

“But we’re two games into a long, long season, so we’ve spoke about staying grounded, being humble and next on to another incredibly tough game on Tuesday.

“We drew our first three games last year and started really positively, but I’d have taken a defeat and a win today because, without sounding like an idiot, we’ve actually got more points after two games than we did after three last season.

“We’ve spoken to the players about going for games and trying to win games, I want to win games of football.

“That might not be away from home, but certainly at home.”

The visitors created decent chances of their own but lacked a killer finish in front of goal.

Frustrated Wycombe manager Matt Bloomfield said: “I’m very disappointed with the way we played in the second half.

“I thought we were good value in the first half and we had a good goal threat about us.

“But we had a goal disallowed from a free-kick and I thought we were in the ascendancy.

“However, I did not see that second half coming. I was really disappointed with the way the goals went in, it was really basic goals which we need to defend better and should defend better.

“I’m bitterly, bitterly disappointed, but goals change games.

“I felt we were still the side threatening even though that first goal didn’t count, but if that goes in then you really back yourselves [to win].

“We felt we were on the front foot, but there’s no excuses for the way we gave away three goals in the second half.

“The second half defending has to better, we have to defend our box better.”

Bristol Rovers’ rustiness in front of goal will soon change, according to first-team coach Andy Mangan, as the Gas drew a second Sky Bet League One game in succession.

With Rovers boss Joey Barton completing a three-match ban, a pulsating game against Barnsley somehow ended in a 1-1 draw.

Both sides squandered plenty of chances, with John Marquis and Aaron Collins passing up gilt-edged opportunities to net in the first half with just opposition goalkeeper Liam Roberts to beat.

“I’ve seen games like that before. We’re frustrated to not get all three points. We dominated the game, but there are areas we need to get better at. When those chances come we need to take them. Today we haven’t,” said Mangan after the game.

“Everyone [Rovers supporters] should go away feeling unlucky that we haven’t got all three points. But if an alien came out of Mars, or something, and watched the game they’d think we were the play-off final team from today’s match.

“On another day, which will happen, we’ll score four, five or six goals. Everyone realises we’ve got a proper side this season. We need to get better on the training ground. We can be miles better.

“We’re a team in transition. Positive signs there but we were just unfortunate.”

Barnsley boss Neill Collins professed himself happy at a haul of four points from their first two League One games of the season, if also leaving Bristol frustrated.

The Tykes took the lead through Nicky Cadden’s seventh-minute near-post blast before Rovers substitute Scott Sinclair equalised with nine minutes remaining.

“It’s frustrating when you lose a goal in the 81st minute but we brought a lot of pressure on ourselves,” said Collins. “I thought Bristol responded to going a goal behind and we responded again prior to half-time.

“We looked like a team who could get another goal but in the second half we didn’t do enough positive things when we had the ball and we didn’t disrupt possession enough against the ball and that allowed them to gather momentum.

“And the biggest disappointment was the way we lost the goal. But all in all, lots to be pleased with and lots to build and learn from.

“When you pass the ball to them straight from a corner and things like that, it’s not a good feeling.

“At times it was a little bit of individual error, but we don’t want to be giving up chances. This is a tough place to come at the best of times and coming here for the first home game of the season, we’ve got to accept the point and learn from this.”

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson was surprised at himself after getting involved in a touchline spat with Sheffield United’s Max Lowe as his side enjoyed a winning start to the Premier League season.

Hodgson clashed with the Blades defender, who appeared to shove the 76-year-old in the midriff, midway through the second half after he stopped the ball in the dugout.

His side were winning 1-0 at the time through Odsonne Eduoard’s 50th-minute goal and that is how it ended at Bramall Lane as Palace started the campaign strongly.

“It took me a bit by surprise, I suppose I don’t take many challenges these days at my age, so it took me by surprise,” Hodgson said of the incident.

“It was nothing at all and immediately afterwards Max Lowe looked over and we smiled at each other.

“He obviously realised he hadn’t done a lot to hurt me and I was probably a bit surprised I have got the energy to react in the way I did.”

Hodgson also distanced himself from wantaway goalkeeper Vicente Guaita’s pre-match tweet, which appeared to question his exclusion from the matchday squad.

The Palace boss said earlier this week that the Spaniard had refused to play in pre-season, but he tweeted: “Where is my name? So how can I play for Palace?”

Hodgson said: “I didn’t know that happened, I don’t really think about it at all.

“I’m more than happy we got through today’s game, our goalkeeper was largely untroubled throughout the game, everything he had to do he did well.. What you’re talking about will be something that he and the club will need to sort out, for me it doesn’t affect me whatsoever.”

Defeat for the Blades worsens the gloom around the club following last season’s promotion.

They have sold star men Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge and have yet to replace them, with boss Paul Heckingbottom admitting that the loss exposed how far away they are from competing at this level.

But he expects that to improve between now and the end of the transfer window.

“It’s obvious. That’s not the story,” he said when asked whether this loss highlighted the gap. “The story is that’s where we are at the minute, but we’re only going to improve. We’ve sold players so we have got the money to spend to bring players in.

“I can’t be critical, I think we needed the first goal if I am honest. We compromised the way we wanted to play with the difference in the team.

“But I felt by being disruptive and aggressive, we had an impact on the game, especially in the second half.

“To concede the first goal so early in the second half made it difficult. These are a well established team, they have experience, they have some real quality. I have not come away from there scared and the players shouldn’t either.”

Ryan Lowe hailed the spirit of his injury-hit Preston squad after they battled to an entertaining 2-1 win against Sunderland.

Lowe is missing six first-team players, including Ched Evans and Emil Riis, but revelled in an excellent win at a raucous Deepdale courtesy of Mads Frokjaer-Jensen’s second-half strike.

Frokjaer-Jensen helped to set-up Preston’s opener, when his shot deflected in off Will Keane, before Jack Clarke equalised for Sunderland with a penalty following Kian Best’s scruffy tackle.

Frokjaer-Jensen then scored the winner on the hour mark and Lowe was proud of his team after securing four points from six in the Championship so far.

“We’d like to have played a little bit more football but sometimes it’s just winning games of football early doors,” he said.

“We’re down to the bare bones and have got a lot of kids out there.

“Until we get a fully fit squad back, we’ve just got to find ways how to win and that’s what we did today – we found a way to win.

“It was a bit nerve-wracking I must say, but it was entertaining football.

“I think we were a little bit different in terms of being a bit more dogged in our defence and doing the right thing and stopping them at source because they’ve got some good players.

“They’ve caused loads of problems but we felt if we could deal with that, we’d always have opportunities to score goals which we did. Overall I’m pleased with the performance.”

Preston sit eighth in the table after two games, but Sunderland remain without a point after a second successive defeat.

The Black Cats reached the play-offs last season but manager Tony Mowbray is refusing to panic about their slow start.

However, he admits they need to sign a striker quickly after watching his team again struggle in the final third.

“Everybody behind the scenes is working hard to try and bring attacking options to the team,” he said.

“Hopefully we’ll find a guy who lives for goals and keeps banging the ball in the net and all the play building up to it, somebody is going to have a good time at the football club, hopefully.

“You should judge football by the performance of the team, but we don’t, we all get judged by the results. The results are not very good but the performance levels of the team in both games has been pretty high.

“I don’t live by expected goals, but somebody said we were top six in expected goals last weekend and yet lost, and I don’t know the number of times we got behind them in the six-yard box and just (didn’t) pick somebody out to side-foot into the empty net today.

“It’s fine margins. Was it too much different from the game at the end of the season where we had plenty of dominance but put the ball in their net three times?

“We’ll be fine and I feel as if the team are functioning OK, apart from the last little bit and we’ll be fine.

“It wasn’t to be today and we have to accept it and I’d be more worried if the team weren’t creating any chances or weren’t functioning.”

Everton manager Sean Dyche was frustrated by his side’s inability to convert their chances and disappointed by the lack of VAR intervention on Michael Keane’s disallowed goal in the 1-0 defeat to Fulham.

Despite an encouraging performance in which they created twice as many chances as the visitors, they were undone by a sucker-punch goal as two Cottagers substitutes Aleksandar Mitrovic and Andreas Pereira combined to provide the third, Bobby Decordova-Reid, with a 73rd-minute tap-in.

But it was the chalking off of Keane’s goal, when he turned the ball into an empty net after goalkeeper Bernd Leno had dropped it in a challenge with James Tarkowski, which was crucial to an Everton side who were the Premier League’s lowest scorers last season.

“Very frustrated with the outcome. We played well and a lot of the things we are looking for were there, especially first half,” said Dyche.

“We limited them to almost no chances or nothing clear while creating nine or 10 in the first half, five of which are high quality. We had one of the highest chance counts in my time. So the mix of the performance is right, but we have to score a goal.

“I am a big fan of VAR, I don’t know why (Keane’s goal was not referred) on this occasion, I get the idea they are promoting the idea the referee’s decision is first but they should step in on this one.

“I can’t really work it out. I have seen it back, Tarky does nothing really, minimal contact other than the keeper landing on him.

“The minimum should be that you go and look at the monitor. He didn’t do anything to put the keeper off and he drops it.”

Fulham boss Marco Silva – a former Everton manager – admitted his side got fortunate with the result.

“It was not a good performance from ourselves. Overall during the game we didn’t perform at our level,” he said.

“Even if we started the game well. after the first 15 minutes we started to lose too many balls in areas it is difficult to lose balls in.

“We gave Everton so many chances to punish us in counter-attacks. It was more our fault because we didn’t perform. Bernd keeps us in the game – a great performance.

“That we are able to win in such circumstances, it is a great feeling. It is not a problem for me to say Everton deserved better.

“It’s a great feeling when you don’t play at your level for 95 minutes and you are able to win away from home.”

David Moyes is considering converting Jarrod Bowen into an out-and-out striker following his latest goal for West Ham.

Bowen had fired the Hammers into the lead early in the second half at Bournemouth with a spectacular curler from the edge of the box.

But Moyes’ side were denied an opening-day win when Dominic Solanke rounded Alphonse Areola to snatch a 1-1 draw with eight minutes remaining.

Bowen’s last kick of last season was the late goal which secured the Europa Conference League trophy against Fiorentina in Prague, 66 days ago.

This time he collected the ball off Tomas Soucek 20 yards out, cut onto his left foot and buried a superb, curling effort beyond the dive of Neto.

“It was a brilliant goal,” said Moyes, who previously successfully turned Marko Arnautovic from winger to striker at West Ham.

“Jarrod is becoming our major goalscorer. There’s a lot of talk about needing to buy a centre-forward but I’m going to see if Jarrod could do the job.

“He’s got the instincts and the sharpness. Hull played him at centre-forward so it’s not me trying to be a genius.”

West Ham were pegged back when Antoine Semenyo’s wayward shot fell at the feet of Solanke, who showed tremendous composure to slip the ball around Areola and tap into an empty net.

“The goal was really scruffy,” added Moyes. “I don’t know if the boy is crossing or shooting, it clipped Tomas Soucek’s heel and was bad fortune for us, but we probably brought it on ourselves.”

Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta put in an eye-catching display in a deep-lying midfield role, showing glimpses of why Manchester City made an approach to sign him.

Moyes, who has already lost Declan Rice this summer, does not want another of his best players to leave but is realistic enough to know he might not be able to stop him.

“There’s a price on everyone’s head somewhere,” he said. “We don’t want Lucas to go, it’s as simple as that. But sometimes it’s difficult to say to these boys you can’t join Manchester City, or Real Madrid, the biggest clubs in the world.

“We’ve had a bit of news on Lucas but we’ve had nothing that’s made us wobble.”

Bournemouth’s new boss Andoni Iraola enjoyed his first taste of Premier League football.

“It’s a good point, we wanted three,” said the Spaniard. “We were better at the end of both halves.

“After tying the game the momentum was with us and we finished better, but it was one point.

“We improved after the first half and second half we were a bit more direct. We have to improve, this was the first game of the season. We have to grow from this starting point.”

Birmingham received an inspirational pep talk from NFL great Tom Brady before a last-gasp victory against Leeds that boss John Eustace dedicated to the late Trevor Francis.

A sold-out St Andrew’s celebrated the club’s greatest ever player and an exciting future under new ownership as Daniel Farke’s relegated side came to the second city.

It is a month since American businessman Tom Wagner completed his takeover at Birmingham, who nine days ago saw seven-time Super Bowl winner Brady join as minority owner.

The former NFL star enjoyed a memorable first trip to St Andrew’s, visiting a local pub before meeting the players and watching a 1-0 stoppage-time win.

“The new owners came into the dressing room just as I was coming out and congratulated the lads,” Blues boss Eustace said. “It’s great to see Tom Brady in there as well.

“Tom spoke to the group before our meeting today, so that is great to have one of the most famous sporting people in the world come down and chat to the group.

“They were all very excited to listen to him and he gave us some real good words of advice.

“I think you can see today his presence at the club (is a benefit), the vision that he’s got for the football club is amazing.

“He wants this football club to be a world brand, he wants this Birmingham City family now all over the world, which is what we all want.

“We want this magnificent football club to grow and get better and be known all around the world.

“We’ve got a great person to come in and do that.”

Substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz’s stoppage-time penalty was the difference at the end of a tense match that began with a heartfelt tribute to Birmingham great Francis following his death in July.

“I’m delighted with the performance for the whole game,” Eustace said. “We dedicate that winner to Trevor Francis and his family. I think it marked a real special occasion.

“The boys today were outstanding with and without the ball.

“Tactically you have to be spot on against an excellent Leeds team and I think the level of concentration and the way the boys went about their business today was superb.”

Leeds counterpart Daniel Farke felt like a point would have been deserved from Saturday’s performance at St Andrew’s where the relegated side’s shortcomings were obvious.

“(This job) is exactly what I would have expected because I have been in the situation before,” the Leeds boss said.

“I know after relegation it’s never easy for the club. There is a hangover.

“It’s more like you’re getting used to having disappointing results (when relegated), there’s always question marks especially in the first transfer window.

“What makes it a bit different is the situation with the contract. We spoke quite openly about it, that there are exit clauses that makes the situation obviously also quite difficult.

“But I knew this before and, yeah, my decision for this massive club was really with full commitment and also totally convinced that we can lead the club in the middle and long term to success.

“We knew that the start would be bumpy and would be tricky and it’s not the easiest shop at the moment, but I mentioned before if it would be it would be easy everyone could do this and it wouldn’t be that much fun to turn our fate around.

“I know that it’s a hell of a task. I said this even in my first press conference and especially during August we have to be a bit patient.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho believes there is still room for improvement with his side despite a comprehensive 4-0 away win at League One newcomers Leyton Orient.

The visitors bossed the show with Marlon Pack breaking the deadlock on 23 minutes before Colby Bishop doubled the advantage.

Six minutes after the interval, Orient skipper Omar Beckles turned Gavin Whyte’s teasing cross past his own keeper and then in added time, Kusini Yengi slotted home a penalty to complete the rout.

“I thought the second half was really good and we were excellent in the way we saw the game out and very professional in terms of getting the third and fourth goal to kill the game,” Mousinho said.

“I don’t like to be too critical but the players came in at half-time and it was case that everyone knew it wasn’t good enough. We were two-nil up off the back of being a bit sloppy.

“I thought we looked a bit leggy to be honest and I wondered if it was because we didn’t travel overnight for the first time but I thought we were a bit fortunate with that scoreline at half-time.

“But full credit to the lads for the effort and shift they put in second half they were absolutely excellent.

“There could have been more in the second half but that’s not a disappointing thing because in that part atmosphere the players stuck to their jobs and made it comfortable for us.

“Our job is to make sure we don’t get carried away and have to keep our feet on the ground but I don’t want to dampen anything down because that was a really good four-nil victory.”

Richie Wellens admitted his Orient side, who were experiencing League One football for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, lacked the experience of competing at the higher level.

“I thought first half we were probably the better team,” he said.

“The reason they won the game was because of experienced players who have played at this level who did the basics right. They never wowed us but they defend the box well and they attack balls at the other end.

“We need to be better in the box because we didn’t defend it well.

“First half I thought we should have had more shots. We conceded from set plays and it’s something we need to work on.

“Sol Brynn (goalkeeper) got injured yesterday and potentially it could be a bad one. The squad is now looking threadbare because we have some good players in the treatment room.

“We’ve had little things go against but the positives are Max Sanders came on, we got another 70 minutes out of Joe Piggott but the third goal was the killer.

“It’s been a tough start not necessarily the results but we are lacking.”

Enzo Maresca praised his “improving” Leicester side after they edged out a narrow 1-0 victory at Huddersfield.

Summer signing Stephy Mavididi opened his account for the club midway through the second half for what proved to be the winning goal.

The £6.4million recruit from Montpellier unleashed a venomous strike from an acute angle which squeezed past Lee Nicholls at his near post.

Leicester enjoyed the majority of chances with Dennis Praet missing from a one-on-one position and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall lively throughout.

But it was Mavididi who was the match winner to secure new boss Maresca a third successive victory in all competitions this season since taking charge of the relegated Foxes.

“One of the things that we need this year is to not get frustrated and to be patient, because the chance will arrive,” Maresca said.

“We had at least five or six clear chances to score and, in the end, we completely deserved to win and have the three points.

“I said to the players that I need to know them and they need to know me.

“We started 40 days ago and I need to give them lots of information, but you can’t give it all in 40 days.

“Even defensively, we’ve already improved a lot against a team that are well-organised and created chances from throw-ins, corners and long balls.

“I’m very pleased with all the team and the effort that they did over the last week with three games and three wins.

“Especially today. It was exactly as I expected in terms of against a well-organised team that defended deep, so it was complicated.

“I’m pleased with Stephy, he scored and gave us three points. He’s working well and was very good against Coventry City last week.

“The reason why we brought him to the club was exactly for that today; good in one-v-ones who scores goals and give assists.”

It was a frustrating afternoon for hosts Huddersfield, who slipped to a third defeat in a row to start the campaign.

Michal Helik spurned a glorious opportunity in the first half to open the scoring when he blazed over from point-blank range.

And his defensive partner Matty Pearson missed an inviting chance to equalise as he headed straight at Jakub Stolarczyk.

“I enjoyed it,” said boss Neil Warnock. “The last thing I wrote on the board was ‘enjoy it’ and I think we did today.

“We covered every blade of grass and couldn’t give anything else; we’re just disappointed to lose to a goal like that because I couldn’t see them scoring.

“I thought their goalie made a couple of good saves in that first half and whenever we could, we tried to create things and we were on the front foot.

“I love having a go at them. They’ve got a good squad and two teams who can get promotion but thankfully we were only playing one!

“I think we’ve got to look after ourselves and we’ve shown today that we can go anywhere and have a really good game.

“Yes, the lads are disappointed but there’s nothing to be ashamed of today. There’s nothing but positives apart from the goal.

“It’s not easy to score goals, you need a bit of luck sometimes and they’ve had a bit today.

“Let’s hope it evens out a little bit. They say it does over a season but I’m not so sure, so we’ve got to make our own luck as well.”

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna hailed a “top performance” from his side in the 2-0 victory over Stoke.

Goals in either half from defender Luke Woolfenden and substitute Kayden Jackson maintained Town’s 100 percent start to the season on their return to the Championship.

Woolfenden rose at the far post to head home in the 23rd minute from a Sam Morsy free-kick, while Jackson converted in the 81st minute following an incisive move involving Wes Burns and Conor Chaplin.

McKenna said: “I thought it was a top performance, no doubt about it.

“I loved the way we stuck to our identity on and off the ball, we were brave in how we played. We played with the intensity, quality, the spirit, the resilience and the threat that we want to have and I thought it was an excellent performance in so many different ways.

“Of course there are areas to improve and we’re learning from every game at the moment.

“We learnt an awful lot from Sunderland last week and we’ll learn from this one again and look to improve.

“There’s going to be spells every week because the level of opponents is so high and we’re having to work hard. We’re not going to be able to dominate games throughout the whole 90 minutes as we were at times last season, so there’s going to be spells where we have to dig in.

“We have to put our bodies on the line and try and defend and block well and I thought what was really important was the way we kept playing. It wasn’t about just digging in, it was our bravery on the ball that turned the game.”

Stoke boss Alex Neil praised Ipswich for their bravery and accepted they “deserved” the three points.

He said: “The first thing that you have got to do is give Ipswich credit. They were better than us in the game.

“I think that when you come to places like this that first game is a great party atmosphere. Everybody is at their peak, the team’s been playing really well, they added a couple of bits and bobs throughout the summer to try and get them better and the first time we give the ball away cheaply on two separate occasions and what happens, the crowd gets up.

“What you need to do is to take the sting out of the game and you need to make sure you quieten the crowd and take the game away from them.

“But they were really brave, they went one for one all over the pitch and we lost, in the first half, pretty much every individual battle, whether it be a header, whether it be a tackle. I didn’t think we passed the ball well enough and then I’m forced to make a change after 30 minutes because it looked like Ipswich were going to score another goal.

“I thought we started the second half better. I thought they wrestled back control of the game, we had two good chances at the start of the second half and then I thought the game ebbed and flowed, but for the last 20, 25 minutes I thought they were better and Ipswich deserved their win.”

Rotherham manager Matt Taylor was unhappy with the decision to dismiss Fred Onyedinma as his side let a two-goal advantage slip during their 2-2 draw against Blackburn.

Onyedinma was sent off just minutes after putting Rotherham 2-0 up early in the second half and the decision to award two yellow cards in as many minutes from referee Bobby Madley angered the home crowd and baffled Taylor.

The decision turned the tide of the game and left the Millers having to hang on deep into added time.

Sammie Szmodics had an eventful game as he missed a first-half penalty and was at fault for Rotherham’s opener before his second-half double secured a point.

“The first yellow is my biggest frustration. We go 2-0 up, it’s Fred’s first goal and there is emotion. He gets pushed into the crowd by his team-mates celebrating,” Taylor said.

“Football is going in a strange direction right now. I know they are trying to make it a better product, but I would argue that it isn’t right now.

“I thought we went through every emotion known to man. We went from jubilation and then a few minutes later Fred gets sent off. At least we got something out of the game.

“I have not enjoyed the first two games of the season. I have seen a whole host of yellow cards for very little.

“We can go through every single moment of the game with frustration. We are gutted we did not take more from that game.”

Szmodics saw his 15th-minute penalty cannon back off the post after Joe Rankin-Costello had been brought down by Cameron Humphreys.

Hakeem Odoffin blasted Rotherham in front after 23 minutes when he latched onto a loose ball from Szmodics and finished emphatically past Aynsley Pears.

Rotherham went from joy to despair in two crazy second-half minutes as Onyedinma headed in Cafu’s free-kick in the 48th minute before picking up two quick yellow cards.

The first came for over-celebrating the goal and he was then shown a second yellow in the 50th minute after gesturing to referee Madley to give a yellow card to a Blackburn man after being fouled.

Rovers started to create more opportunities with the extra man with Tyrhys Dolan, Ryan Hedges and Rankin-Costello all firing just off target.

Szmodics got one back after 75 minutes when he latched onto Adam Wharton’s pass and fired beyond Viktor Johansson.

He then latched onto a defensive lapse and rounded Johansson before firing in the leveller three minutes later.

Rovers had chances to snatch the three points with Harry Pickering twice coming close, but the spoils were shared.

Blackburn head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson said: “It was a bit of a rollercoaster but entertaining for the fans.

“I think the fans will be disappointed we didn’t come away with three points.

“We did not do enough of the right things in the first half. If we score that penalty then it would be a different game.

“I was not happy with the first half. But I must give all my credit to the lads. They got a well-deserved first and second goal.

“I stopped counting the number of chances we created. Rotherham did really, really well and defended with great spirit. So credit to them.

“Sammie is a great lad. You know anyone can miss a penalty. You have people with different characters. Some who want to then come and sit on the bench, but he scored two goals.”

Derby boss Paul Warne was happier with the result than his side’s performance against Burton as they won 3-0 for their first Sky Bet League One victory of the season.

After two poor performances coming into the game, Warne felt that the Rams, who are expected to challenge for automatic promotion, are settling and looking to improve.

“I didn’t think we were great,” he admitted after watching James Collins, Conor Hourihane and substitute Conor Washington net for a first win at the home of the Brewers.

“We were good second half but not so good in the first half. We lost a little bit in the middle of the park, but I thought we created enough chances today to win. Weirdly we scored the early goal and then it was all Burton, it felt like.

“The conditions weren’t great, and it felt like one of those days with lots of corners and throw ins coming in that something was going to drop for them.

“We are still not exactly where we want to be but it is early in the season and it always takes a few weeks to really get it smooth.

“But once the pressure was off them with the early goal they expressed themselves a little bit and looked a really classy outfit. Hopefully they can carry this on into the games coming up.”

Burton boss Dino Maamria refused to be downhearted despite ending the first week of the season with two league defeats.

“What a bizarre game of football,” Maamria said. “We lose that 3-0 and yet we dominated. Ultimately they scored in key moments.”

The game was evenly poised at 1-0 but sloppy defending cost the Brewers dear as Derby countered to finish with a flattering scoreline.

“We gifted them two goals when we tried to put them under pressure but for the first 78 minutes, we were the dominant team,” Maamria added.

“Derby defended well but I felt that goals were coming for us but the second and third goals really killed us, giving the ball away when we were committing bodies forward.”

Albion had chances in the first half with Sam Hughes going close twice and Maamria feeling his side should have had two penalties with Derby getting the rub of the green with several refereeing decisions.

“If the early penalty shout on Rekeem Harper is given then it could have been a different game,” Maamria said.

“Despite the result that is the best performance so far and we played with total energy and commitment from kick-off.

“Goals make all the difference but sometimes you get the rub of the green and Derby definitely had that today and they probably can’t believe their luck.”