Southampton missed the chance to move four points clear at the top of the Championship after a 1-1 draw with Ipswich as arch south coast rivals Portsmouth crashed to the bottom of the table.

Southampton were well on their way to victory when Rickie Lambert opened the scoring in the 74th minute at St Mary’s on Tuesday before Jason Scotland grabbed an equaliser for the visitors with five minutes left.

Saints are now just two points above second-placed West Ham, who have two games in hand, and three ahead of third-placed Reading.

The Royals inflicted fresh misery upon crisis club Portsmouth, in danger of going out of business after being hit with a 10 point deduction for entering administration.

Noel Hunt’s first half goal secured a 1-0 win for Reading over Pompey at the Madejski Stadium.

That result, combined with relegation-threatened Doncaster’s 2-1 win at fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest, saw Pompey slump to the bottom of the second-tier Championship.

Frederic Piquionne and Kyle Bennett struck either side of the interval for Doncaster before Dexter Blackstock’s late consolation.

Goals from Seb Hines and Bart Ogbeche moved Middlesbrough up to fourth with a 2-0 win over Barnsley, while Blackpool blew a second minute lead through Thomas Ince at Derby, with a Steve Davies double giving the Rams a 2-1 win.

Bristol City grabbed a dramatic 3-2 win over Leicester, Hull and Leeds shared the points in a goalless draw at the KC Stadium.

Meanwhile Millwall continued their recent recovery with a 3-0 win at Peterborough with goals from Hamer Bouazza, Andy Keogh and Harry Kane.