Paul Ince has made a shock return to the dugout after agreeing to take interim charge of Reading, the troubled Championship club his son, Tom, joined on loan last month.
Ince has not managed since being sacked by Blackpool in January 2014 but will take over from Veljko Paunovic, who took charge of Saturday’s 3-2 win at Preston – their first in 14 matches – while the club search for a new permanent manager. Reading are at risk of relegation to League One, five points and one place above Derby County, who have been administration since September.
Reading finished seventh last season but this campaign has been a different story, with Paunovic overseeing eight defeats after the turn of the year, including an embarrassing FA Cup third-round exit at Kidderminster.
Paunovic met Reading’s under-fire chief executive, Dayong Pang, on Friday following a 0-0 draw at fellow strugglers Peterborough in midweek, after which he declined to comment on questions about his future. Players expected Paunovic to be sacked before now but the arrival of the former Manchester United midfielder Ince will inevitably raise eyebrows.
In a statement on Saturday evening, Pang said: “The board and I will now work diligently to identify the right candidate to take this club forward. This work will be done quickly but without undue haste as we fully appreciate the importance of our decision to appoint a new manager at this crucial stage of the campaign.”
Lucas João struck twice in the opening 19 minutes, with John Swift adding a third early in the second half. Daniel Johnson pulled a goal back for the hosts, with Cameron Archer, on loan from Aston Villa, setting up a tense finale with 15 minutes to go, but the Royals held out.
Louie Sibley hit a stoppage-time winner as Derby beat relegation rivals Peterborough 1-0, with both sides finishing with 10 men. Posh defender Hayden Coulson was sent off after picking up two cautions in the space of four minutes just after the half-hour mark. Rams captain Tom Lawrence was dismissed for a foul on Nathan Thompson early in the second half, but Sibley had the final say.
Bottom club Barnsley lost 1-0 at Coventry, where Dominic Hyam struck in the third minute of stoppage time. Cardiff and Blackpool drew 1-1. Marvin Ekpiteta headed Blackpool into an 11th minute lead, but Joel Bagan had the home side level soon after the restart.
Stoke and Birmingham shared four goals at the bet365 Stadium. Jordan James put the Blues ahead in the 12th minute, with Tyrese Campbell equalising before half-time. Campbell struck again seven minutes into the second half, but Gary Gardner squared things up again on the hour.
Ten goals were not enough to separate Wycombe and Cheltenham as they were forced to share the spoils from a frenetic 5-5 draw.
Alfie May scored four goals altogether, grabbing his first in the opening three minutes after lobbing goalkeeper David Stockdale. Wycombe then scored three times in eight minutes to take the lead, with Jordan Obita scoring two before Brandon Hanlan added a third.
May got his second at the start of the second half with a headed effort and the Robins then levelled through Kion Etete. Two quickfire goals from Sam Vokes within a minute of each other put the Chairboys back in the lead but May added two more to draw 5-5.
MK Dons stay third in the table with a 2-1 win against Sunderland. Mo Eisa put the visitors in front but Ross Stewart quickly equalised for the Black Cats, scoring his 19th goal of the season. Former Sunderland striker Connor Wickham found the winner for Dons and Sunderland now drop out of the play-off places into seventh.
Oxford put four past struggling Charlton to move up into the play-off places. Matty Taylor scored a brace in the first-half before Sam Baldock and Cameron Brannagan struck in the second half. Sean Clare was shown a straight red card for the Addicks in the 62nd minute for a clash with Taylor.
Four was also the magic number for Bolton after goals from Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, Oladapo Afolayan, Dion Charles and Amadou Bakayou saw the Trotters beat Wimbledon 4-0.
Sheffield Wednesday came from behind to beat Doncaster 3-1 in a Yorkshire derby. Rovers were awarded a penalty just before half-time and Dan Gardner scored from the spot. Wednesday equalised through Callum Paterson and were awarded a penalty in the 76th minute, but Barry Bannan’s effort was saved. Saido Berahino put the Owls ahead two minutes later and Bannan added a third.
Ipswich made it three wins from five games with a 3-0 win against Burton. Kayden Jackson opened the scoring in the first minute before Wes Burns and Bersant Celina both scored in the second half.
Plymouth made it four consecutive wins after beating Gillingham 2-0. The Pilgrims opened their account one minute into the second half through Jordan Garrick and Luke Jephcott doubled the lead after scoring from the spot in the 75th minute.
Cambridge returned to winning ways with a 2-0 win against Accrington thanks to second-half strikes from Sam Smith and Wes Hoolahan.
QPR left it late to draw 1-1 at home against Hull and sit fourth, above Huddersfield – 2-1 victors at Fulham – on goal difference. Marcus Forss, on loan from Brentford, fired the Tigers into the lead in the 26th minute. There was a lengthy delay just after the hour when the Hull goalkeeper Matt Ingram needed treatment following a collision with QPR’s Albert Adomah and eventually was taken off on a stretcher. Ilias Chair then struck from close range with 15 minutes left to secure QPR a point.
Sheffield United continued their push up the table after sweeping past Swansea 4-0 at Bramall Lane. Morgan Gibbs-White broke the deadlock in the 14th minute and George Baldock soon added a second before Billy Sharp made it 3-0 shortly before half-time. Gibbs-White bagged his second with 12 minutes left as the Blades moved into the top six.
Michael Flynn’s first match in charge of Walsall ended with a surprise 1-0 victory at runaway leaders Forest Green.
It brought to an end Rovers’ 20-game unbeaten run, though they still lead by 10 points with two games in hand over Tranmere. George Miller’s 12th-minute goal, firing in after Emmanuel Osadebe’s through ball, was enough to secure victory.
Tranmere missed a chance to strengthen their grip on second in the table after Port Vale snatched a draw in stoppage-time.
Josh Hawkes put Tranmere ahead after 50 minutes, slotting in from Kane Hemmings’ through-ball, before Jamie Procter’s 94th-minute leveller made it 1-1.
Exeter now have three games in hand on Rovers after they were frustrated by the weather as their clash with Barrow was called off.
Salford’s bid to continue their play-off push against Crawley also fell victim to the weather, while Harrogate’s meeting with Leyton Orient was also postponed.
Northampton capitalised on Exeter’s absence to move up to third with a 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Colchester.
Dom Telford snatched a 1-1 draw for Newport against fellow play-off chasers Mansfield. Telford struck from the penalty spot nine minutes from time to cancel out Josh Pask’s own goal, after John-Joe O’Toole was sent off for Nigel Clough’s side in the 73rd minute.
Hartlepool are four games unbeaten after a 1-1 draw at Sutton.
Oldham’s revival under John Sheridan continued as they climbed out of the relegation zone after making it five games unbeaten with a 2-0 win over managerless Bradford. The Latics went ahead through Hallam Hope after 19 minutes and Davis Keillor-Dunn doubled their advantage five minutes later. Paudie O’Connor was sent off in the 71st minute for the Bantams.
Carlisle replaced Oldham in the relegation zone after a thumping 3-0 home defeat by Swindon. Harry McKirdy gave Swindon, who moved into the play-offs, a 17th-minute lead before the Robins hit two goals in two minutes in the second half with Josh Davison and Louie Barry on target.
Scunthorpe remain rooted to the foot of the table after Rochdale came from behind to win 2-1. Manny Onariase put Scunthorpe ahead after 13 minutes, but Liam Kelly and a late winner from Max Taylor left Scunthorpe seven points from safety.
Bristol Rovers hammered Stevenage 4-0. Rovers, who have now lost just one of their last 10 games, went ahead through Sam Finley in the 36th minute before Elliot Anderson, Harry Anderson and Aaron Collins sealed a resounding win for the visitors.
Middlesbrough saw their play-off ambitions stall after losing 2-1 at Bristol City. Andreas Weimann gave the hosts an early lead, with Antoine Semenyo wrapping up the points in the second half. Matt Crooks scored a late consolation for Boro, who are seventh and a point behind Sheffield United.
West Brom also lost ground on the top six following a 2-0 defeat at Luton. Cameron Jerome headed in from a 55th-minute free-kick and Allan Campbell wrapped up the points with seven minutes left.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fulham | 31 | 51 | 64 |
| 2 | AFC Bournemouth | 30 | 23 | 58 |
| 3 | Blackburn | 32 | 12 | 54 |
| 4 | QPR | 32 | 10 | 53 |
| 5 | Huddersfield | 33 | 7 | 53 |
| 6 | Sheff Utd | 31 | 10 | 50 |
| 7 | Middlesbrough | 31 | 8 | 49 |
| 8 | Luton | 31 | 7 | 48 |
| 9 | Nottm Forest | 31 | 10 | 47 |
| 10 | Coventry | 31 | 4 | 47 |
| 11 | West Brom | 32 | 6 | 46 |
| 12 | Preston North End | 33 | -1 | 45 |
| 13 | Stoke | 31 | 6 | 44 |
| 14 | Millwall | 31 | 0 | 43 |
| 15 | Blackpool | 32 | -3 | 42 |
| 16 | Bristol City | 33 | -15 | 40 |
| 17 | Swansea | 31 | -11 | 38 |
| 18 | Birmingham | 33 | -12 | 37 |
| 19 | Cardiff | 32 | -12 | 36 |
| 20 | Hull | 33 | -10 | 34 |
| 21 | Reading | 32 | -23 | 26 |
| 22 | Derby | 32 | -2 | 21 |
| 23 | Peterborough | 31 | -38 | 21 |
| 24 | Barnsley | 31 | -27 | 17 |
