Wrexham agony as Middlesbrough draw hands Hull playoff spot

Head coach Sergej Jakirovic reflected upon an “unbelievable” achievement after his Hull side earned a spot in the playoffs with a 2-1 comeback win at home to Norwich. Goals in either half from Oli McBurnie saw the Tigers nudge clear of Wrexham and Derby to land a place in the top six.

Jakirovic, who has had to operate all season under a transfer embargo, said: “It’s a big success. To achieve this is my first season at the club is unbelievable, it’s massive for me and club – especially in these circumstances. This is a sweet feeling.”

At the other end of the table Sheffield Wednesday claimed their first Championship home win of the season in front of their new owner, David Storch, as they beat West Brom 2-1 to finally wipe out their 18-point deduction. Arise Capital Partners, which is led by Storch, has completed the acquisition of the Owls and the American was on the pitch before kick-off to address the fans of his new club. He confirmed that the Owls would be starting life in League One without a points deduction, much to the delight of the sold-out home crowd.

Southampton made it 19 Championship matches without defeat as they finished the season fourth with a 3-1 win against Preston at Deepdale. Taylor Harwood-Bellis’s superb 12th-minute header opened the scoring and Ross Stewart doubled the lead with a well-taken second after 47 minutes. Lewis Dobbin capitalised on a Daniel Peretz howler to halve the arrears on the hour, but substitute Cyle Larin tapped home to seal the win in stoppage time.

Stephy Mavididi gave League One-bound Leicester something to cheer about at the end of a miserable campaign as his late goal secured a 1-0 win at Blackburn. Afterwards, Gary Rowett made clear he wants to stay on as Leicester’s manager next season, saying: “I think there’s going to be some big decisions and it’s going to need someone, in my opinion, brave enough to make those decisions. The team needs to look very different. The culture needs to look very different. But it’s a great opportunity so of course I’d like that opportunity.”

An Ellis Simms hat-trick and a Viktor Torp piledriver ensured Coventry signed off on their Championship title-winning season in style with a one-sided 4-0 victory over a sorry Watford side at Vicarage Road. Cheered on by around 2,000 fans, Frank Lampard’s side ended a memorable season with 95 points and 97 goals. Afterwards, the manager told fans to “stay excited” about the summer plans for squad building: “The club has to do the hard work and the owner has said that he wants to talk about that from next week. It’s a special story this year and this is right up there in the amount of pleasure I have had in football.”

Adam Idah came off the bench to score twice as Swansea ended their season with a 3-1 win at home to Charlton.

Sheffield United staged a second half comeback to win 2-1 at Pride Park and end Derby Championship playoff hopes. Derby were in control at the break through Sam Szmodics early goal but the visitors came back strongly to dash the home side’s dream of a top-six finish. A mistake by Joe Ward allowed Tom Cannon to level before a strike from Sydie Peck turned the game on its head.

Adrian Segecic’s excellent end-of-season form continued as Portsmouth played out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Birmingham at Fratton Park.

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