Canaries take flight as Foxes fall away

More an enforced substitution than an inspired one, David Nielsen came on for the injured Paul McVeigh in the first half at Carrow Road and scored twice as Norwich City beat Millwall 3-1 to move up to second in the Nationwide First Division.

Nielsen drove in his first from the edge of the penalty area two minutes before the break. Five minutes after it, Steve Claridge levelled for the Lions, but Nielsen's second strike put Nigel Worthington's side back in charge and Darren Kenton wrapped it up with the third after 73 minutes.

"I won't start looking at the table until May," Worthington said, "that's when it starts to get important. Team spirit is excellent and the hard work being put in is there for all to see. But there's an awful long way to go yet."

The Canaries moved above Leicester City who lost their 100 per cent home record when Burnley's Ian Moore scored the only goal of the game to stretch the Clarets unbeaten run to 11 matches. With a huge debt, wages deferral, and the threat of Dennis Wise's £2.36 million law suit hanging over the club, Micky Adams' side failed to make early pressure count. "I would not deny that it has been a very difficult week," Adams said, "but Burnley were very resilient and deserved it on the day."

Nicky Forster scored a hat-trick for Reading as they beat Ipswich Town 3-1 at the Madejski Stadium, denting caretaker manager Tony Mowbray's ambitions of succeeding George Burley at Portman Road. Ipswich's Pablo Couñago was sent off for pushing over Adrian Williams.

Last weekend the Rotherham manager, Ronnie Moore, thought Ipswich wanted him as their next manager, but their overtures turned out to be a hoax and he was at Blundell Park to see his uninspired Millers grind out a 0-0 draw with Grimsby, despite the Mariners having George Santos (26 minutes) and Paul Raven (54) sent off. "There was just no thought or professionalism in our play," Moore said. "Teams should not survive with nine men."

Watford's home form had lifted them to fourth but a 3-0 defeat at Gillingham was the Hornets' fourth reverse away. Mamady Sidibe gave the Gills a second-minute lead, Guy Ipoua made it 2-0 just past the half-hour and Kevin James added the third in injury time.

Despite trailing 2-0 and 3-1, Preston's 3-3 draw at Walsall was a fairly predictable result, it being the fifth time Craig Brown's side had finished level away from Deepdale this season. The Saddlers were 2-0 up after 26 minutes but then had goalkeeper James Walker sent off. "Some major decisions are not going our way at the moment," Colin Lee, the Walsall manager, fumed. "That was typified by Preston's last goal."

Two goals by Gerald Sibon gave Sheffield Wednesday a 2-1 win in the Yorkshire derby with Bradford City at Hillsborough, easing the pressure on manager Terry Yorath. "The win has probably given me two more days in the job," he quipped.

New managers in the Third Division had differing debuts Peter Taylor's first match in charge of Hull ended with a 4-1 win at Torquay but Neil McNab's start with Exeter was less blessed, losing 1-0 at Lincoln City.