Dickov and Redfearn delighted by away day rewards

Rovers, who plumbed the depths in a poor weekend loss to Walsall, hit back in style with a resounding victory against Crawley, crowned by a 28-pass move for their fourth goal from Harry Forrester.

With Abdul Razak finally available for the weekend clash with Yeovil and Uche Ikpeazu set to return and James Coppinger and Luke McCullough on the mend, a feel-good factor has quickly resurfaced.

Dickov, whose side are unbeaten on the road in League One since October 18, said: “Long may the run continue. But we have got two tough home games and have got to take a lot of positives into Saturday.

“I thought we were outstanding from start to finish.”

It was also a great night for Neil Redfearn’s Leeds United, who warmed up for Saturday’s huge home clash with Millwall by easing their drop fears with a fine 2-0 win at Reading, United’s first-ever success at the Madejski Stadium.

Ordering his side not to let up while other teams start to toil at the wrong end of the Championship, Redfearn said: “The important thing is we are up to 35 points, much closer to that 50-point mark.

“A lot of clubs are bunched together and a lot are floundering.”

It was not such a good evening for Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley, who both copped lame defeats, with the Owls turning in their worst performance of the season in a 2-1 loss at Ipswich according to head coach Stuart Gray.

Gray, who confirmed that midfielder Lewis Baker has returned to Chelsea, who have exercised their right to recall him under the 28-day youth loan recall rule, said: “It was probably the poorest we have played all season. We just got outfought and outbattled and we had too many who had an off day.”

Barnsley also had a night to forget in a 2-1 home loss to Fleetwood in League One, which prompted boos at the final whistle from disgruntled fans.

Reds chief Danny Wilson had no truck with supporters for venting their feelings, although he believes a bit of patience in a transitional season is required.

He said: “Everyone wants to see their team win at home; our inconsistency is there to be seen.

“It is not going to be easy to get that consistency straightaway and we will have to persevere and be patient.”