Championship wrap: Southampton held, Reading close

Championship leaders Southampton dropped points in a 1-1 draw with Ipswich on Tuesday, as Reading closed the gap by beating Portsmouth.

Southampton led in their match at home to Ipswich thanks to Rickie Lambert’s goal in the 73rd minute at St Mary’s Stadium.

But they were forced to settle for a point after Jason Scotland equalised for the visitors with seven minutes remaining.

Southampton remain top, two points clear of West Ham, but they have now played two matches more than Sam Allardyce’s second-placed side.

Reading moved within three points of the leaders after Noel Hunt’s 23rd-minute strike helped them to see off bottom side Portsmouth 1-0 at home.

Fourth-placed Middlesbrough kept pace with Reading by beating Barnsley 2-0 at home, thanks to goals from Seb Hines and Bartholomew Ogbeche.

Doncaster Rovers, second bottom in the standings, recorded a much-needed 2-1 win over relegation rivals Nottingham Forest.

Goals either side of half-time from Frederic Piquionne and Kyle Bennett gave visitors Doncaster a 2-0 lead, and Dexter Blackstock’s second-half strike was not enough for Forest to salvage anything from the match.

Elsewhere, Derby County came from behind to beat Blackpool 2-1 at home, and record their first victory from 10 matches in all competitions.

Third-bottom Coventry City gained a valuable point with a 1-1 draw against visiting Crystal Palace.

Palace had led as early as the third minute of the match thanks to a Darren Ambrose penalty, but Cody McDonald levelled for Coventry with 10 minutes remaining.

Bristol City came from behind to beat Leicester 3-2 at home, with goals from Kalifa Cisse, Brett Pitman and Jonathan Stead doing the damage.

Hameur Bouazza, Andrew Keogh and Harry Kane were all on target as Millwall ran out 3-0 winners away to Peterborough.

And finally, Hull City were held 0-0 at home to fellow playoff hopefuls Leeds United.