Ipswich Town 6 Sheffield Wednesday 0: Owls thrashed by ruthless Tractor Boys

With rivals Leeds United not in action until Sunday, Town took full advantage to close up to within a point of leaders Leicester, who travel to Chelsea for their FA Cup quarter-final.

Omari Hutchinson put Ipswich ahead in the 15th minute, with Cameron Burgess adding another from a corner and Nathan Broadhead slotting in a third in first-half stoppage time.

On-loan Chelsea forward Hutchinson drilled in a fourth soon after the restart and substitute Ali Al-Hamadi added two further late goals as Kieran McKenna’s side bounced back from last weekend’s late defeat at Cardiff.

West Brom further consolidated fifth place with a 2-0 win over Bristol City at The Hawthorns.

Tom Fellows put the Baggies in front at the end of the first half, with captain Jed Wallace on target five minutes after the restart.

Norwich put some distance between their top-six rivals with a 3-0 win at Stoke.

In-form American forward Josh Sargent fired the Canaries ahead after 24 minutes and Gabriel Sara soon doubled the lead. Ashley Barnes scored a third from close range on the hour after a corner.

David Wagner’s side now sit three points clear of Hull and four of FA Cup semi-final bound Coventry, although having played a match more.

In Saturday’s 12.30pm kick-off, Swansea took the bragging rights in the south Wales derby with a 2-0 win over rivals Cardiff.

Liam Cullen gave the hosts 34th-minute lead – and then missed a penalty early in the second half.

Jamal Lowe, though, settled matters when he scored Swansea’s second deep into stoppage time following a swift counter attack.

Preston moved back into the top 10 with a 1-0 win at Plymouth, secured through Liam Millar’s goal late in the first half.

Watford’s new interim boss Tom Cleverley, a former Hornets player, got off to a positive start with a 1-0 win at strugglers Birmingham.

Emmanuel Dennis capitalised on a defensive error just before the break as Watford looked to quickly move on after sacking Valerien Ismael following last weekend’s defeat by Coventry.

At the other end of the table, bottom club Rotherham drew 0-0 against relegation-battlers Huddersfield, who finished with 10 men.

Huddersfield winger Sorba Thomas was sent off for a second caution just before the hour, but the Millers – beaten 5-0 at Norwich last weekend – could not make their advantage count.

Middlesbrough’s three-game winning run came to an end after they were held to a goalless draw at home by Blackburn.

It also finished 0-0 between Sunderland and relegation-threatened QPR at the Stadium of Light, which saw the Black Cats end a six-game losing run.