Winger Jamie Ward will be playing Championship football again next season after he helped Nottingham Forest to a crucial 3-0 victory at home to Ipswich Town yesterday.
Forest, who needed all three points against the Tractor Boys to avoid the drop into League One, went ahead from the penalty spot just before the break after Ward was fouled inside the area by the visiting goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski.
Nottingham Forest’s win meant they finished level on points with Corry Evans’ Blackburn Rovers who, despite recording a 3-1 success at Brentford, were relegated to League One on goal difference.
Meanwhile, Shane Ferguson is heading to Wembley for the League One play-off final with Millwall after they came from behind to defeat Scunthorpe United 3-2 on aggregate.
They will face Bradford City who defeated Conor McLaughlin’s Fleetwood Town 1-0 on aggregate thanks to Rory McArdle’s goal in the first leg last Thursday.
In the final round of games in League Two at the weekend, Billy Kee finished the season off in fine style with a brace in Accrington Stanley’s 3-0 win at Stevenage to take his tally for the campaign to 15.
There was huge disappointment for Northern Ireland duo Trevor Carson and Liam Donnelly though after Hartlepool United lost their league status after 96 years despite an enthralling 2-1 victory over already promoted Doncaster Rovers.
In Scotland, former Northern Ireland under-21 goalkeeper Connor Brennan made a rare appearance for Raith Rovers when he came on as a substitute due to regular number one Pavel Penksa being red-carded after just four minutes of the 2-1 home win over Ayr United.
On the injury front Aaron Hughes, who has just signed a new one-year deal with Hearts, played his first game for the Edinburgh outfit since 22 February when he played the full 90 minutes of the 2-1 home reverse to Aberdeen on Sunday.
Meanwhile, West Brom defender Jonny Evans was replaced early in the second half of the Baggies' 2-2 draw at Burnley after suffering an ankle injury and he is now a concern for Friday’s Premier League clash at home to Chelsea.
“It’s a massive game for us on Friday against the would-be champions so we need Jonny fit,” said West Brom manager Tony Pulis.
“We looked at him at half-time; he wanted to give it a couple of minutes. He was disappointed being brought off so that shows his character.
“He’s a top player at this level so hopefully we can get him patched up and get him playing against Chelsea.”
Image courtesy of Nottingham Forest FC
