Wolves on the verge of promotion

Wolverhampton moved within touching distance of the Premier League as Andy Keogh’s late goal clinched a 3-2 win at Derby on Monday.

Mick McCarthy’s side are seven points clear of third-placed Sheffield United with just three games remaining and a win against QPR on Saturday would guarantee promotion from the Championship.

Keogh had given Wolves the lead in the seven minute with a fine strike before Przemyslaw Kazmierczak’s free-kick brought Derby level after half an hour.

Mile Sterjovski put County ahead 10 minutes after the break but Matt Jarvis levelled in the 55th minute.

It looked like McCarthy’s league leaders would have to settle for a hard-earned point but Keogh sent the travelling Wanderers faithful into ecstasy with a diving header three minutes from full time.

Birmingham’s hopes of going up with Wolves are in the balance after Alex McLeish’s 10 men held on for a 1-1 home draw against Plymouth.

The second-placed Blues are only one point ahead of Sheffield United, while Cardiff are only four points behind with a game in hand.

Birmingham goalkeeper Maik Taylor was sent off in the first half for a foul on Jamie Mackie, although video replays proved the incident occurred outside the area, and on-loan Blackburn striker Paul Gallagher slotted the spot-kick past substitute stopper Colin Doyle to put Plymouth ahead.

But French defender Franck Queudrue was on hand to rescue a point with a 49th-minute header. McLeish suffered another blow though as defender Liam Ridgewell was carried off with a suspected broken leg.

Sheffield United’s promotion charge was halted by Nottingham Forest, who secured a 0-0 draw at Bramall Lane despite the first-half dismissal of Kelvin Wilson.

Forest’s relegation fight was dealt an early blow when defender Wilson was sent off for headbutting Greg Halford in the 16th minute.

But United were denied a sixth successive league win by Billy Davies’ stubborn side.

Cardiff boosted their late promotion bid with a 3-1 win over play-off rivals Burnley at Ninian Park.

The Bluebirds took the lead with 74 minutes gone when Ross McCormack headed into the path of Jay Bothroyd who shrugged off Steven Caldwell before smashing in a first-time shot.

However, Cardiff defender Darren Purse gifted Burnley an equaliser six minutes from time when his poor back pass went straight to Robbie Blake who finished well.

McCormack restored Cardiff’s lead barely 60 seconds later with a fine finish from Bothroyd’s flick-on, then added his second goal in the final moments to clinch the win.

At the bottom of the table, Southampton claimed a crucial 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, Norwich climbed out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 victory against Watford and Barnsley are still in danger of going down after a 3-1 home defeat to Swansea.

Elsewhere, Charlton shared a goalless draw with Coventry, Reading drew 2-2 at Blackpool, Ipswich drew 1-1 at Bristol City, Preston beat Doncaster 2-0 and QPR came from two goals down to defeat Sheffield Wednesday 3-2.