Championship round-up: Paul Ince takes charge at Blackpool

Paul Ince was in the stands at Portman Road to see Blackpool, the Championship side he will be named as manager of tomorrow, lose 1-0 at struggling Ipswich.

"The deal is very close to being done," Pool's caretaker- manager, Steve Thompson, revealed after Michael Chopra's goal had consigned his team to defeat. Ince has not managed since he left Notts County almost two years ago. At Blackpool, he will coach his son and England Under-21 international Tom.

Two goals from Fraizer Campbell sufficed for Cardiff City to maintain their eight-point lead at the top with a 2-1 win over Bristol City. "You could see the quality," the Bluebirds manager, Malky Mackay, enthused of his striker. "You could see the intelligence, strength and link-up play."

Mohamed Gedo's toe-poke earned Hull City a 1-0 home win over Charlton as they tightened their grip on the Championship's second automatic promotion berth. "Nobody predicted Hull, Palace and Watford would be chasing Cardiff," the Tigers manager, Steve Bruce, said, "but there we are. The Championship is a level playing field. That is the beauty of it, how hard it is."

Troy Deeney scored twice as Watford thumped Birmingham City 4-0 at St Andrew's to go third. Lee Clark, the Blues manager, had left out striker Nikola Zigic for his bad attitude to hard work in training. "There's only so much you can keep in-house before you have to go down another route," Clark said of his decision to go public.

Wolves are just a point above the bottom three after a 0-0 draw at Derby left them still seeking a first win under Dean Saunders after six attempts.

In League One, the two clubs which parted company with managers last week showed no ill effects. Preston, who sacked Graham Westley, beat leaders Bournemouth 2-0, while Coventry, whose former boss, Mark Robins, quit to go to Huddersfield, won 2-0 at Bury.

David Beckham will be ready to make his Ligue 1 debut for Paris Saint-Germain against Marseille next Sunday, PSG's manager, Carlo Ancelotti, said.