Winger Shane Ferguson was among the scorers as Millwall eased their relegation worries with a 3-2 New Year’s Day victory over Championship basement side Ipswich Town.
The 27-year-old opened the scoring on the hour mark for the south-London side when he converted a penalty to record his second goal of the season.
Big result today great way to start the New Year! Hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2019 ⚽️⚽️
— shane ferguson (@shane_fergie) January 1, 2019
Elsewhere in the division, it was a frustrating day for ‘keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell as Leeds United went down 4-2 at Nottingham Forest after surrendering a 2-1 lead at the City Ground.
In League Two, Bury maintained their push for promotion as on-loan striker Caolan Lavery scored his fourth goal in five games as the Shakers’ defeated Crewe Alexandra 3-1 at Gigg Lane.
Former Burnley trainee Shay McCartan thought his fourth goal of the campaign had given Lincoln City all three points at home to Port Vale only for the League Two leaders to concede an equaliser in the dying moments of the game.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland under-19 international Harry Robinson made his professional debut when he came on as a substitute in the final minute of Oldham Athletic’s 2-0 home success over Notts County.
The 18-year-old midfielder is the son of current Motherwell boss and former Northern Ireland assistant manager Stephen Robinson.
Former Newcastle United trainee Paddy McLaughlin scored for Hartlepool United in their 2-1 victory over his former club Gateshead in the National League, while under-21 defender Ryan Johnson was dismissed just before half-time of Kidderminster Harriers 2-1 win at home to Hereford FC.
Defender Jonny Evans returned to the Leicester City line-up yesterday after illness and produced a man-of-the-match performance as the Foxes recorded a 1-0 victory over Everton.
Evans, who was making his 11th start of the season for Claude Puel’s side, admitted City gave a dogged defensive display in what was a scrappy encounter at Goodison Park.
Speaking to LCTV Evans said: “It was scrappy first half, but I think you could see how much it meant to everyone at the end to get that victory, it was a bit of a battle today, it’s a tough place to come.
“[In] the first half, we didn’t play well and they didn’t play well either and I think it was a case that both teams would’ve been looking forward to the half-time whistle to get in to regroup.
“I thought our play was a bit better in the second half and once we got the goal,” he added. “The objective then is to hold onto that lead.
“We knew they were going to put a lot of pressure on and they did. We defended quite well as a team and like I say, we really enjoyed the victory.”