Round-Up: Davies delighted to sign up for Eriksson's latest venture

The latest relaunch of Sven Goran Eriksson's management career might also mark a renaissance for one of his first signings for Leicester.

Although he did his best to raise his profile with a scathing attack on Martin O'Neill after he quit as Aston Villa manager in the summer, Curtis Davies had slipped so far into the shadows at Villa as to be practically invisible. But not, it seems, to Eriksson. On Friday, he signed Davies on a month's loan and, if the centre-back can maintain the standards set on his debut in a 1-1 draw with Hull City on Saturday, he will surely seek to extend his stay.

Frustrated at Villa, Davies could not say yes quickly enough when he heard about Eriksson's interest. "It is a real boost," he said. "My career had not so much stalled as stopped completely. The last Premier League game I played was in August last year at Anfield. We won 3-1 and I scored, so to go from that to just being cast aside was a bitter pill to swallow."

"I thought Curtis was brilliant," Eriksson said. "He is a good athlete, good in the air and good with the ball as well."

Kyle Naughton, the Tottenham right- back, has also arrived to help shore up the Championship's leakiest defence and after a first half in which Hull did not manage a shot it looked like the reinforcements were having the desired effect. Robert Koren's goal from their first attempt of the second half – cancelling out Andy King's third-minute effort for Leicester – somewhat spoiled the story but Eriksson's new side did not look like one destined to remain in the bottom three.

Wes Hoolahan missed a first-half penalty for Norwich at Loftus Road as a 0-0 draw meant QPR saw their lead at the top of the table cut to four points. The Norwich midfielder placed his 12-yard drive wide after Clint Hill had brought down Grant Holt in the box.

Cardiff increased the pressure on the leaders with a second-half comeback, courtesy of a Peter Whittingham double in a 3-2 win over Bristol City. Keith Millen's side had stormed into a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Steve Caulker and Jon Stead before Jay Bothroyd pulled one back for the home team. Whittingham then got his first two goals of the season to cement Cardiff's position in second.

"Peter Whittingham was outstanding and his work rate was superb," said the Cardiff manager, Dave Jones. "He's also back to scoring again and both free-kicks were superbly taken. His second was pure quality."