Newcastle United midfielder, Matt Ritchie, believes that a workmanlike 2-1 victory away to Burton Albion proved that his side have the necessary qualities to remain at the top of the Sky Bet Championship.
Goals from Dwight Gayle, his 17th of the season, and Mohamed Diamé were enough to ensure that Rafa Benítez’s side will enter the Christmas period with a nine-point cushion in the chase for automatic promotion. “It’s fantastic that we’re top for Christmas,” Ritchie said. “In the past it’s been a good omen. Most teams that are top at Christmas have gone on to get promoted, hopefully that can be us. We were ready for a tough game, and that’s exactly what we got.”
Danny Batth, the Wolverhampton Wanderers defender, helped to ease his team’s fears of dropping into League One and stated that he still has not given up hope of lifting the club into the Premier League after his 250th career appearance in a 2-0 win away to Nottingham Forest. “It feels like 500, I can tell you,” the 26-year-old Batth said. “I’d like to take Wolves to the Premier League. I’ve signed a four-year contract, and I hope in that period we can mount a serious challenge and achieve that goal.”
Goals from Helder Costa and Ivan Cavaleiro secured a win that adds to the problems facing Forest who end the year with games away to two of the top four, Huddersfield Town and Newcastle United.
Stuart Dallas believes that personal sacrifices over the holiday period will be worthwhile if Leeds United continue their impressive bid to return to the Premier League for the first time in 14 years. “We want success and if that means giving up Christmas, so be it,” said the midfielder after the 1-0 home win over Brentford.
Advertisement
The 37-year-old Wes Brown, the former Manchester United and England defender, scored on his league debut for relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers but accepted his part in the late Reading winner, by George Evans, a former Manchester City midfielder, that meant a third 3-2 defeat in eight days.
“It was a quick throw-in, I could have done better,” said Brown, whose earlier equaliser had made it 2-2.
Paul Warne has indicated that he is happy to take the manager’s job at bottom club Rotherham United for the rest of the season if asked to by Tony Stewart, the chairman. Warne, a former Rotherham player, has taken charge of the past four games, including the 1-0 defeat away to Sheffield Wednesday.
Ryan Williams scored his first goal since May 2014 to earn Barnsley a 4-3 victory over Cardiff City. Barnsley manager, Paul Heckingbottom, said: “Ryan has been out injured for a long time and I think the players were as pleased for him as they were with the three points.”
Alex Pearce believes that the recent form of Derby County has put them in good stead for another play-off run, despite seeing a seven-match winning sequence end as they drew 2-2 away to Fulham. “We’ve come close the last few years and it does give you extra motivation. It’s about staying in the mix and hopefully we’ll be up there at the end of the season,” said Pearce, who salvaged a point with a 75th-minute equaliser.