EFL: Five things you may have missed as West Brom & Leeds struggle again

The top two in the Championship stumbling, a prolific return for a striker playing in the seventh tier before Christmas, and a manager being forced to run to the ground were all part of another memorable Saturday in the English Football League.

Baggies & Whites feeling the pressure?

The Christmas and New Year period has proved to be a tricky time for the top two in the Championship.

Both West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United have had their momentum checked, with their cushion to the play-off places being trimmed slightly.

The pair again dropped points on Saturday, although a draw was enough to take the Baggies back to the top of the table - despite the fact Slaven Bilic's side are now winless in five.

Leeds United, meanwhile, conceded two late goals at home against Sheffield Wednesday, meaning the Elland Road side have only recorded one win in their past six league outings.

Whites fans hoping to end their 16-year exile from the Premier League will be worried about a case of deja vu, after seeing Marcelo Bielsa's side sit six points clear at the top on Boxing Day 2018 - but then go on to finish third last season.

The Yorkshire side are now only six points clear of third-placed Brentford following their defeat by the Owls.

Late, late drama at Reading

With two of the Championship's form teams, Reading and Nottingham Forest, meeting at Madejski Stadium, it was all a bit disappointing as the game drifted towards a goalless draw. And a really dull 0-0 at that.

Cue two goals in the sixth and seventh minutes of stoppage time to ensure an encounter that the 16,602 inside the ground are unlikely to forget.

First Ben Watson grabbed what looked like the winner for Forest in the 96th minute after a mass scramble in the box.

But, straight from kick-off, Tobias Figueiredo turned Jordan Obita's cross into his own net to rescue a point for the Royals. An utterly bizarre end to a game which lacked any real goalmouth action.

Rush hour congestion in League Two

The festive fixture pile-up can often result in a bit of congestion in the table in the new year. But the League Two play-off race is now beginning to look like the M25 at rush hour. Around Heathrow. On a Friday.

Five teams, from Cheltenham Town in third down to Forest Green Rovers in seventh, are all on 44 points.

Wins for the top two, Swindon Town and Exeter City, saw them pull further clear of their promotion rivals but who will claim the third and final automatic spot remains anyone's guess.

The game of the day in the fourth tier involved one of the sides locked level on points as Forest Green ran out 4-3 winners at Mansfield thanks to a 96th-minute strike from Aaron Collins.

Mark Cooper's side had been trailing 2-0, but three goals in 15 minutes either side of half-time put them in front.

Nicky Maynard's stoppage-time goal seemed certain to earn a draw for the Stags before Collins rifled home with virtually the last kick of the game.

Add in the fact Northampton and Colchester are both in touching distance of the play-offs with a game in hand on Forest Green, and it could get a whole lot busier.

Speaking of congestion, Stevenage boss Graham Westley fell foul of the traffic on his way to his side's home game against Port Vale and decided to ditch his car five miles from the ground and run to the stadium.

You'd imagine he wouldn't have had such a spring in his step on his way back after Boro fell to a 1-0 defeat that sent them bottom of League Two.

Light at the end of the tunnel for Black Cats?

Sunderland have endured some dark times over the past few years.

Years of struggling in the Premier League ended with back-to-back relegations down to League One, while last season saw them suffer Wembley defeat in the Leasing.com Trophy and play-off final.

Jack Ross was sacked in October, with owner Stewart Donald, who is now looking to sell the club 18 months after taking over from Ellis Short, saying that he felt appointing Phil Parkinson would give them the best chance of getting promoted.

However, Parkinson won just one of his first nine league games as the Black Cats slumped to 15th in the table amid calls for him to be sacked after just two months.

What a difference two weeks makes.

A thumping 4-0 home win over previous league leaders Wycombe on Saturday gave them a third victory in four and lifted Sunderland back up to sixth.

The Black Cats are not the only League One promotion favourites who looked to have turned a corner as Ipswich recorded a 4-1 home win over Accrington for their first three-point haul since November.

In-form Jephcott sends Pilgrims home happy

It's a long way from Plymouth to Carlisle.

Well, a 780-mile round-trip to be exact.

A very impressive total of 567 Plymouth Argyle fans made the trip to a sodden Cumbria, with the supporters coaches leaving Devon at 04:00 GMT.

Fortunately for those travelling Pilgrims the club can call on the services of in-form teenager Luke Jephcott.

The 19-year-old was recalled from a loan spell at Southern Premier Division side Truro on 3 January and the striker has now scored four goals in two games after another double at Brunton Park.

If he keeps this up he could end up challenging Eoin Doyle for the division's top scorer prize.

Doyle bagged a frankly incredible 23 goals in 22 games in a loan spell at league leaders Swindon before being recalled by Bradford earlier this week.

He failed to score for the Bantams as they went down to a 2-1 defeat at Crawley on Saturday, while league leaders Swindon made light of his absence with a 3-1 win over fellow promotion hopefuls Crewe.