Championship Round-Up

Brighton 1 Leicester City 2

Leicester left the South Coast a satisfied team after winning this relegation six-pointer with two goals in the first five minutes, Patrick McCarthy and Iain Hume on target. Alexandre Frutos scored early in the second half for Brighton, who had Dean Hammond sent off. Will City caretaker boss Rob Kelly get the job? "I've never even considered it," he said. "All I've asked of the board is to let me know what will happen and when. I don't want to hear about it on the news."

Cardiff City 3 Stoke City 0

Neil Cox scored twice as the Bluebirds closed the gap on the play-off places to five points. Kevin Cooper scored Cardiff's first, before Cox struck twice. "The training ground was frozen yesterday so we were forced to move inside where we worked on set plays," Dave Jones, the Cardiff manager, said. "It was very rewarding to see the hard work everyone put in having the desired result." Stoke's Guinea striker Sammy Bangoura has yet to reappear after the African Nations' Cup.

Hull City 1 Norwich City 1

The Tigers went ahead thanks to a brave header by Leon Cort from Keith Andrews' corner, but the Canaries, who were not at their best, equalised when substitute Leon McKenzie hooked over a ball to Gary Doherty. His scuffed shot deflected off Stuart Elliott's shin and into the net. "Norwich did not create a great deal and I thought we were going to hold on," the Hull manager, Peter Taylor, said. "But I would have taken a point before the game."

Ipswich Town 2 Burnley 1

Ipswich rekindled hopes of making a late dash into the play-offs with this win. "Five weeks ago our fans thought we were going to be relegated so it's great to see this revival," the Ipswich manager, Joe Royle, said. Michael Ricketts netted for the visitors on the stroke of half-time. Just past the hour Alan Lee levelled from Darren Currie's cross. As Ipswich turned the screw, Burnley's Wayne Thomas was sent off, then Michael Duff fouled Lee and Matthew Richards scored from the penalty spot.

Plymouth 0 Sheffield Utd 0

Second-placed United are starting to show their nerves, dropping another two points as their lead on third place was cut to nine points. But manager Neil Warnock was pleased with the point after last Monday's 4-1 home defeat by Watford. "When you have a knock-back like that you need to get something. You need to start building from the back. Obviously you want to win every game but it was important we got something here. It was a good point."

Sheffield Wed 0 Crystal Palace 0

A poor game on a pitch that cut up badly was disrupted by fussy refereeing. Kevin Wright even booked Palace skipper Michael Hughes for taking a free-kick too quickly. "It's a strange world when you're in an entertainment sport and you try to take a quick free-kick and get booked for it," Iain Dowie, the Palace manager, said. But he was more worried by an injury to striker Andy Johnson. "A very serious gash on his thigh, it is not a pretty-looking injury."

Wolves 1 Crewe Alex 1

Beaten at Leicester last Saturday, Glenn Hoddle's Wolves must have thought they'd found the perfect restorative for fading play-off hopes in the section's whipping boys, Crewe. Far from it. Billy Jones gave Alex the lead, Mark Kennedy equalised in the second minute of first-half time added on. "The first half was as poor as I have seen since I've been here," Hoddle said. "I didn't need to give them a rollicking at the interval, the crowd's reaction was enough."