Six of West Ham United’s loanees were involved in a busy weekend of action...
James Ward-Prowse played the final eight minutes as Nottingham Forest secured their fifth straight Premier League victory for the first time since 1995. Forest’s 2-0 win over Everton takes them up to second in the table.
Freddie Potts and George Earthy faced off in the EFL Championship as Earthy’s Bristol City defeated Potts’ Portsmouth 3-0.
With the festive fixture congestion, Potts began the game on the bench for the first time since September after 16 consecutive starts. Pompey head coach John Mousinho rotated his side, benching regulars Callum Lang, Josh Murphy and Potts, only to find themselves three goals behind after 35 minutes.
Although Potts was brought on with half-an-hour left, the damage had already been done. A first-half brace from Anis Mehmeti and a third goal from Rob Dickie secured the Robins’ second successive victory to move them within four points of the Play-Offs.
Earthy saw out Bristol City’s victory playing the final 20 minutes in place of Scott Twine.
In League One, Callum Marshall put in another tireless shift, playing the full 90 minutes for Huddersfield Town for the third time in just nine days in their 1-1 draw with Burton Albion.
The Terriers were behind for most of the game after Charlie Webster put Burton ahead after 13 minutes. Marshall almost found an equaliser in the second half, but only just failed to connect with Josh Koroma’s cross into the box.
Despite trailing for most of the match, Huddersfield's persistence paid off in the 88th minute when captain Michał Helik headed home Ben Wiles’ cross to extend their unbeaten league run to 13 games going into the New Year.
Also in third-tier action, Gideon Kodua continued his gradual return to action for Wycombe Wanderers after being sidelined with injury since scoring his second goal for the Chairboys in their FA Cup first round win against York City.
After playing a handful of minutes on Boxing Day, Kodua was introduced with half-an-hour to go as the Chairboys chased Charlton, who had taken the lead early in the second half through a Miles Leaburn brace. Although Richard Kone pulled one back late on, Wycombe fell to a 2-1 defeat, their first since Kodua rejoined them on loan.
Despite their remarkable 19-match unbeaten run coming to an end, they remain firmly in contention for automatic promotion alongside Birmingham City and Wrexham, the only other two teams to have defeated Wycombe this campaign.
Michael Forbes, who was withdrawn through injury in his first League One start for Bristol Rovers against Wrexham on 21 December, was not involved in the Gas' 3-0 defeat away to Stevenage.
In League Two, Patrick Kelly was rested as his Doncaster Rovers side played out a 1-1 draw with Colchester United.
In National League South action, Mason Terry once again produced a fine performance for Hornchurch as they held Aveley to a 1-1 draw.
In the first half he made a remarkable double save to keep his side within one, after Aveley had taken the lead through David Kawa. Hornchurch equalised shortly after half-time courtesy of Millwall loanee Henry Hearn.
However, deep into stoppage time, Aveley were awarded a penalty, presenting Razzaq Coleman De-Graft with a golden opportunity to secure three points. The forward struck his effort down the middle, and although Terry initially dove to his left, he adjusted superbly to block the shot with a strong right foot. He then sprang back to his feet to put off Nathan Carlyle, who skied the rebound.
The 20-year-old shot stopper still boasts one of the best goalkeeping records in the division, with just 21 goals conceded in 21 games.
Fellow goalkeeper Krisztián Hegyi featured on the bench as Motherwell held Rangers to a 2-2 draw in the Scottish Premiership.
Nayef Aguerd and Real Sociedad, Kurt Zouma and Al-Orobah and Mohamadou Kanté and Paris FC are on winter breaks in Spain, Saudi Arabia and France respectively.
