I think we've all earned a breather after another belting afternoon in the Championship.

A day where the formbook was well and truly hurled out of the window as the teams battling for their Championship status came out swinging. Things are hotting up, ladies and gents.

We'll be back on Friday evening to bring you all the action from The Hawthorns as West Brom and Coventry get the weekend rolling with a tasty Midlands derby.

Thanks - as ever - for your company. TTFN.

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Plymouth Argyle head coach Ian Foster said it was probably a perfect away performance as his side came away with all three points at Middlesbrough.

"I don't think it's been a turnaround, our levels of performance have been very good and it's difficult to say that when you're losing games of football, but we have to be mindful of who we're losing games of football to," he told BBC Radio Devon.

"We were all disappointed on Tuesday [a 3-0 home defeat by West Brom] and it's hard for a coach to come out and justify some performances because it feels like you're making excuses, but genuinely the players gave everything in the three games in six days.

"The message was to maintain the levels of performance, because they were decent, but they were just against really, really good teams and we thought if we could maintain those levels we'd get points on the board in games like this.

"I thought the players were outstanding - the starters and the finishers - and it was probably a perfect away performance."

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Ipswich boss Kieren McKenna said his side looked fresh and fit in their 3-1 win over Birmingham.

"It was an excellent performance in all aspects. I liked us on the ball, off the ball and I liked us physically," he told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"We looked fresh and really fit and our mentality was outstanding in how we approached the game and how we responded to the setback just before half-time.

"We did really well in the second half because we were so dominant in the first half and should been a couple of goals ahead. It would be easy for us to let the blow of the goal before half-time rock us but it didn't.

"Birmingham made some good chances at half-time, but it was a case of patience and the goal would come. The belief was always there on the pitch and on he sidelines."

Birmingham interim manager Mark Venus admitted that his side were second best against Ipswich at Portman Road.

"I think we have to hold our hands up and respect how well Ipswich played on the day," Venus, who is covering for Tony Mowbray, told BBC WM

"We tried to compete, the lads have given everything they've got but it just wasn't enough. They had more quality and they played very well to be honest.

"Every time we broke forward we looked like we could create but we didn't break forward enough, we didn't run forward enough, we didn't pass forward enough and we were punished for that.

"We know what we are trying to get out of the team, when you look at Ipswich Town I think that is where we want to be as a football team and a football club but we know that there is a lot of hard work in front of that."

Sunderland interim head coach Mike Dodds refused to take a step back despite seeing his side's play-off hopes take another hit against the relegation-battling Swans.

A third straight defeat leaves the Black Cats in 10th - eight points outside the top six.

"It didn't work [in the first half]. I don't think you need to be a football expert to see that," Dodds said.

"One thing I demonstrated last time, and I will keep reiterating, is that while I am in this position, I am going to make bold decisions.

"Sometimes that's going to be a positive and sometimes that's going to be negative.

"The ironic thing was we wanted to be bold and really aggressive in terms of tagging certain players, and second half in terms of our set-up we were actually more reserved but looked more aggressive.

"Clearly first half there were one or two things I wasn't happy with. The second half was miles better. But we have to take that first 45 minutes on the chin - myself, the staff, the players, all of us."

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Swansea head coach Luke Williams was pleased with his side's performance at both ends of the pitch as the Swans responded well to back-to-back defeats.

The Welsh side extended their unbeaten run at the Stadium of Light to seven visits to climb to 17th, four points above the drop zone.

"Particularly the first-half performance was strong, we were very dominant, so I think we were value for the result," Williams said.

"We have been seeing some really good performance markers in games but it's difficult at the end of those games when the result is negative. We felt we were improving bit by bit and today is a big step forward for us.

"We need now to try to improve, so we can control longer periods of a game and maybe weather a storm better.

"But on the flipside of that, I got to see the guys defending in a really tough venue to play at when the crowd get behind the team."

Norwich head coach David Wagner felt frustrated with his side's result against Blackburn at Ewood Park but was pleased with the Canaries' performance.

"A frustrating result but performance wise I've seen a lot of good things. We played through our structure, everyone put a shift in, we created very good opportunities," he told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"The one thing we have to complain about is that we were not ruthless and clinical enough.

"We concede from a corner, it's too easy, this is something where you have to be better but this is football, sometimes you have opportunities to score three, four goals in a game, today we haven't.

"We only have one point but we take it and we move on. Nothing gets decided today but we keep pushing like we've done in recent weeks.

"Now we recover and we have a home game against Sunderland, a big one for us but all the games are big."

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Huddersfield's new head coach Andre Breitenreiter was delighted with his side's thirst for three points - even after falling behind in the second half.

Danny Ward's double helped keep Huddersfield out of the relegation places and two points above the bottom three.

"We played with high intensity, full of energy, all the players gave their best," Breitenreiter told BBC Radio Leeds.

"I told the boys it never depends only on one or two players. We had a fantastic first half. We should have scored, but sometimes this is how football works.

"Watford scored and we needed some minutes to come back, but we played football.

"Danny Ward scored the first, but it was the belief and conviction to win the game – this is what I like.

"Not to be comfortable with a point, we wanted to win. This is what I want to see and the boys deserved it."

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QPR boss Marti Cifuentes heaped praise on super-sub Paul Smyth for hauling his side level and setting the platform for a comeback win.

A fourth win in their last seven league outings lifted them out of the bottom three on goal difference.

“I'm happy for him because nearly every time he comes from the bench he's having a fantastic impact on the games," he told BBC Radio London.

“Obviously we knew it would be a difficult game. It’s a relegation battle.

“A team in the situation that Rotherham are in are pushing and we saw earlier in the week when they played Ipswich away that they were trying until the last minute to get points from the game.

“We didn’t start well, we concede a goal and then that’s difficult to turn mentally.

“But all the credit to the guys because over the 90 minutes, especially the last 45, I think that we deserve the victory.”

Wins for Sheffield Wednesday, QPR, Millwall, Huddersfield, Swansea and Plymouth today... all sides in the bottom half of the table.

Wonder what odds you'd have got on that at the start of play?

If I was a gambling man... I could have retired!

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Relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday kept up with the other sides who won above them with three points against Bristol City.

Manager Danny Rohl was delighted with his side's performance, particularly with 10 men at the end.

"I think, it was a big, big win today for us," he told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"It wasn't easy, we played against a strong side from Bristol, I think they have a good manager, they were well organised and had solutions with the ball.

"But we did well during the week, the focus was more to prepare my team to play our style of football and all in all we did well.

"Of course in the final minutes we had to fight with 10 men, but we did well again."

Blackburn Rovers manager John Eustace said he was happy with his side's performance after their draw against an in-form Norwich.

"I thought it was a very good performance against one of the top teams in the league at the moment.

"We created some really good chances in the first-half, we showed great character in the second-half to come back and equalise.

"We're making small steps forward and I was pleased with the point in the end. I would have loved three points of course but I thought the lads showed great commitment and character to come from behind.

"Our football at times was very good, we created two or three fantastic chances from some real good moves.

"It's about being patient, you can see us growing as a group."

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Following mid-table Bristol City's defeat by relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday, head coach Liam Manning said he was hugely annoyed by his side's performance.

"Not good enough. We started the game okay in the first five or 10 minutes - I thought we got in behind them a few times," he told BBC Radio Bristol.

"Unfortunately at the minute when we face a bit of adversity, a bit of pressure, we have to go the other way, we have to step up and be counted.

"In the second half we looked better, we engaged a bit higher. A lot more of the play - even before the red card - was in their half of the pitch.

"Then for me the second half was more about quality rather than the behaviour side which we lacked first half, so I'm hugely annoyed right now."

New Millwall boss Neil Harris guided the Lions to their first victory in nine matches.

The 46-year-old said his players delivered the gameplan.

“I certainly can’t say we battered them from start to finish. I would say that is a very Millwall-like performance against a top, top side at this level with unbelievable individual ability," he told BBC Radio London.

“Credit to my players for delivering the gameplan, credit to the fans for getting behind us from the start and carrying us through the second half.

“We’d like to have a bit more of the ball, we’d like to be a bit higher up the pitch and have more efforts on goal but you have to pay so much respect to teams like this. We had to do what we had to do get a result. I asked the players to buy-in. Fair play to the group.

“I left Cambridge with a heavy heart after a short tenure but that’s why I have come back today – it’s the only club I would have left to go to. It’s a positive start but it’s only a start.”

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Southampton boss Russell Martin said his side were guilty of gifting Millwall victory at St Mary's.

Defeat leaves them five points behind the automatic promotion spots.

“I am furious at the manner of the goals we’ve conceded. Some of the stuff was good but we have given a team something to hang onto again. It’s ridiculous," Martin told BBC Radio Solent.

“I think it’s the softest free-kick in the world for the first one. Two of their tackles were a disgrace but I am not going to blame the referee – we didn’t do enough to get back in the game and win the game.

“We have to stop conceding first. We had a mountain to climb to get into the game. Second half we have a few big chances but we don’t score – if we get the goal I think we go on to win it.”

Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick said he was to blame for their defeat by Plymouth.

Boro are now 11 points outside the play-off places.

"I take full responsibility for that I think, first of all look at me really," he told BBC Radio Tees.

"I got some things wrong and didn't get things right, so it's on me.

"The performance was nowhere near what we're capable of as a group, so that's on me, it's not a good day for us.

"If you want to be successful you've got be able to do it every week and we didn't do it today."

Saints supporters... do you think you'll have to settle for a play-off place now?

What's gone wrong in recent weeks?

Get in touch using #bbcefl

Now let's get some reaction from the bosses....

Marc Webber
Final Score

If there was ever a team that believes that attack is the best form of defence, it’s Ipswich Town.

They gifted Birmingham their equaliser before half-time and Suffolk locals started to fret whether their porous defence was going to be their downfall yet again, as Birmingham pushed hard for the lead in the early part of the second half.

But substitutes rallied to put clear blue water between the sides.

Omari Hutchinson and Jeremy Sarmiento goals did a lot to ensure it was another win for a club who have ridden the crest of a wave from League One last season to possible promotion to the Premier League this season.

Image source, BBC Sport

Three of the bottom five clubs got wins today, with QPR and Millwall both keeping themselves out of the drop zone - even if it is by a whisker.

Stoke's defeat by Cardiff means they fall into the bottom three for the first time, although they are level on points with QPR above them.

Sheffield Wednesday have also narrowed the gap between them and league survival with a win over Bristol City, and are now only three points from safety.

Rotherham fans might want to look away though. Their loss today means they stay on 19 points and are now a massive 16 points away from safety. They're going to need a miracle to stay up, you'd think.

Image source, BBC Sport

The race for promotion is still close but we're starting to see a bit of daylight open up.

It's not been an afternoon (or few weeks) to remember for Southampton and their defeat by lowly Millwall, coupled with Ipswich's win against Birmingham, means the Saints have fallen five points behind Ipswich now in fourth.

Ipswich, meanwhile, move level on points with second-placed Leeds.

In the race for the rest of the play-off places, Norwich's draw with Blackburn means they stay three points behind Hull in sixth.