Watford close in on Blades - review

Watford cruised to a 4-0 win over Coventry for a victory which turns up the pressure on second-placed Sheffield United, who could only manage a point at Plymouth.

The Hornets moved nine points behind their rivals in the second automatic promotion spot in the Coca-Cola Championship with the opener coming from Ashley Young in the 32nd minute.

Marlon King headed in the second in the 5th minute from Young’s outswinging corner, Darius Henderson nodded in the third after 78 minutes later and Jay Demerit completed the rout four minutes later.

The Blades were held to a goalless draw at Plymouth while there were also no goals in the match between fourth-place Leeds and Derby at Pride Park.

It meant Preston did their play-off hopes no harm with a 2-1 win over Luton which took them into fifth above Crystal Palace, who could only manage a scoreless draw at Sheffield Wednesday.

Lewis Neal gave Preston the lead against a Hatters side who are themselves outside bets for the post-season, firing home left footed after 20 minutes and David Nugent added a second in the 53rd minute.

Cardiff are five points adrift of the play-off spots after they enjoyed a 3-0 win over Stoke which saw two goals from Neil Cox.

Kevin Cooper drilled in the opener in the 18th minute, Cox added the second on the half-hour mark before completing the scoring after 68 minutes.

Wolves needed a Mark Kennedy equaliser in first-half stoppage time to earn a 1-1 draw at home to bottom side Crewe, who took the lead through Billy Jones after six minutes.

Millwall remain deep in the relegation zone following their 1-0 defeat at capital rivals QPR with the only goal arriving from Marc Nygaard in the 56th minute.

However, the Leicester revival continued at fellow strugglers Brighton where a 2-1 win earned them their third successive victory in the Championship.

The Foxes were two goals up after five minutes with Patrick McCarthy netting the first four minutes in and Iain Hume adding a second less than 60 seconds later.

Alexandre Frutos pulled a goal back for Brighton in the 56th minute.

Robert Earnshaw, who could cost Norwich as much as £3.5million following his transfer window move from West Brom, looked good value for the Canaries.

His shot was deflected off Damien Delaney before the Tigers’ Stuart Elliott contributed the decisive touch in the 88th minute as Nigel Worthington’s side battled back to a 1-1 draw at Hull, whose goal had come from Leon Cort after 26 minutes.

Ipswich fought back from a goal down to beat Burnley 2-1 thanks to Matthew Richards’ 83rd-minute penalty.

Michael Ricketts scored the Lancastrians’ opener in the 45th minute before Alan Lee netted the equaliser in the 62nd minute.