Lee puts Leicester bubbly back on ice

That crunching noise you can hear is the sound of champagne bottles being thrust back into ice buckets as promotion celebrations were put on hold in all three Nationwide divisions.

In the First, victory at Rotherham United would have seen Leicester City win promotion back to the Premiership, but they were thwarted by a strong performance from their hosts, who went ahead early in the second half thanks to an Alan Lee header. But Micky Adams' side have been nothing if not resolute this season, and when Paul Dickov made space on the right for a cross, Trevor Benjamin was at the far post to head the equaliser. The 1-1 draw meant Leicester go top.

"Going top is more of a consolation for the fans because we could have been having a bigger occasion today," Adams said. "We were outfought by Rotherham, which is unusual for us; normally we're a big, strong, physical side."

The scramble to break into the First Division play-offs saw eighth-placed Norwich City beat Burnley 2-0 at Carrow Road, but Ipswich Town, seventh, had to come back from a 2-0 half-time deficit to win 4-2 at Coventry City.

"I stripped the walls in the dressing room at half-time," Joe Royle, the Ipswich manager, admitted. "I don't usually get angry with my players but today it was necessary, and they responded." He sent on Martijn Reuser, but "it wasn't just the substitution of a player, there was a substitution of attitudes".

Six minutes into the second half, Ipswich got the piece of luck that presaged Coventry's collapse. Reuser's shot hit Marcus Bent and looped into the net. Soon after, Pablo Counago scored twice in six minutes to put the Suffolk side ahead, and a rather more deliberate effort by Bent completed a remarkable recovery. Ipswich and Norwich are three points behind Reading, who have two games in hand, and four behind Wolves.

In the relegation scrap, Brighton's survival was again put in jeopardy when they lost 2-0 at home to Preston North End, but Stoke City, a point above them, were unable to take advantage and lost 3-1 at Millwall. "We can still stay up if the players continue like they did at Reading [a 2-1 win]," Steve Coppell, the Brighton manager, said. "If they play like today and relent, it will be a lot harder." Their next match is at Leicester. But there was even worse news for Grimsby Town fans as the Mariners sank to the bottom after they were crushed 4-1 at home by Crystal Palace. "We have to keep believing," Paul Groves, the Grimsby player-manager, said. "We will keep going to the end."

Walsall's 1-0 win at Gillingham gave them a six-point cushion above the relegation zone, and Derby County can just about stop looking over their shoulders. A 2-0 win, their second victory in two games under acting manager George Burley, at Wimbledon eased the Rams' worries and increased the former Ipswich manager's prospects of a return to a permanent appointment.

At the top of the Second Division, Wigan Athletic beat Brentford 2-0 and will be promoted if Cardiff fail to win at Chesterfield this afternoon, while Bournemouth's 1-0 win over Southend kept Third Division leaders Hartlepool United, who beat visitors Leyton Orient 4-1, and second-placed Rushden & Diamonds, 1-0 winners over Lincoln City, waiting a little while longer for their passports to the Second to be rubber-stamped.