Ipswich Town sends a message to Leeds United and Leicester City making their determination to win the championship obvious.

Ipswich Town have gone top of the Championship with a late winner at Watford With a late victory against Watford, Sam Morsy sent Ipswich to the top of the Championship standings. But at Vicarage Road, the visitors had to fight from behind after Yaser Asprilla gave the Hornets the lead in the 12th minute.

After 24 minutes, George Hirst tied the score, but Kieran McKenna’s promoted team had to wait until 10 minutes remaining to win 2-1 thanks to a crisp finish from captain Morsy, who took advantage of a defensive blunder by Wesley Hoedt. At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland battled their way to a 1-0 victory as Jobe Bellingham dashed Leeds’ hopes of promotion.

Bellingham’s close-range header 12 minutes from time handed interim boss Mike Dodds a second successive victory after his team had beaten West Brom at the weekend and cemented the Black Cats’ place in the top six. The visitors slipped eight points adrift of second-placed Leicester ahead of their home clash with Millwall on Wednesday evening as a result.

The Baggies overcame their defeat on Wearside thanks to goals from Grady Diangana and Jed Wallace, a replacement, in the second half against Rotherham. In the 54th minute, Diangana’s deflected shot defeated the Millers, who were now under new head coach Leam Richardson’s first-ever lead. The visitors took a larger lead in normal time thanks to a free kick from Wallace.

Preston midfielder Ben Whiteman killed off any hope of a Huddersfield fightback as North End ran out 3-1 winners at the John Smith’s Stadium. Alan Browne’s early header and a second goal from Will Keane had sent North End in at the break two goals to the good, but Town grabbed a lifeline courtesy of Danny Ward’s 54th-minute header, only for Whiteman to seal the points 12 minutes later.

At Ewood Park, Blackburn defeated Bristol City 2-1 despite a late comeback led by Scott Wharton’s header.
After adding to Arnor Sigurdsson’s first-half opener, Wharton appeared to have put the game to bed. However, Mark Sykes pulled one back on the hour, setting up a tight finish, however Rovers held firm to stop a run of two straight defeats.

Swansea prevented managerless Stoke from winning for the first time in seven attempts, and Harry Darling transformed from villain to hero. Under interim manager Paul Gallagher, the Potters appeared to be winning when Daniel Johnson scored their first goal at the Bet365 Stadium in four games in the 70th minute, following Darling’s trip on Ryan Mmaee. Darling, though, atoned for his mistakes when he headed in Matt Grimes’ corner in the 89th minute to steal a 1-1 draw.