Frank Lampard insisted the Championship title race is far from over after his Coventry City side were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw against 10-man Preston North End on Tuesday. The result narrowed Coventry's lead at the top of the table to five points, with Middlesbrough now within striking distance.

Coventry appeared set to bounce back from their 3-0 defeat to Ipswich after Andrew Hughes deflected Jack Rudoni's shot into his own net. Despite the early advantage and a subsequent man-advantage after Liam Lindsay was sent off for a foul on Haji Wright, Coventry failed to capitalize. Daniel Jebbison's late equalizer secured a point for Preston and allowed Middlesbrough to close the gap.

"I am the first one to say that when we were...," Coventry manager Lampard stated, emphasizing the need for his players to remain focused.

Middlesbrough capitalized on Coventry's dropped points with a victory over Charlton, further intensifying the race for automatic promotion. The win propelled Boro to within five points of the league leaders, injecting fresh impetus into their promotion campaign.

Elsewhere, QPR continued their climb up the table, securing a win that moved them into sixth position. Their improved form has solidified their position as a potential playoff contender.

In other Championship news, late goals from Liam Kitching and Ellis Simms helped Coventry to extend their advantage at the top of the Championship table with a 4-2 win against Middlesbrough. The Sky Blues landed two early blows in the opening 15 minutes, going ahead through Simms's stunning top-corner strike and Kitching's header. Middlesbrough responded through Morgan Whittaker before the break and levelled minutes after the restart with a Bobby Thomas own goal. With the game seemingly destined for a draw, Kitching and Simms both struck within one minute of each other in the final five minutes of normal time to send Coventry 10 points clear of the Teessiders, who drop to third in the table.

Tonda Eckert made it four wins out of four as Southampton caretaker by masterminding a 3-0 victory against Leicester. Finn Azaz scored for the third match in a row and Olabade Aluko was sent off on his first professional start, either side of Taylor Harwood-Bellis's brace of headers in a horror first half for the Foxes. The four wins under Eckert match the number they had secured from the start of last season until Will Still's sacking. Saints had been three points off the relegation zone when Eckert took charge and they are now two points shy of the promotion places – with the German the favourite to take the job permanently.

Derby ruined Vítor Matos's first game in charge of Swansea with a 2-1 away victory. Joe Ward and Lars-Jorgen Salvesen struck either side of the interval as Derby climbed into seventh place. There was late anxiety for the visitors after Ethan Galbraith's sweet finish, but it was a deserved sixth win in seven games for the in-form Rams. Matos had only taken two training sessions after leaving the Portuguese second-tier club Maritimo on Monday to succeed the sacked Alan Sheehan.