Wolverhampton Wanderers have seen their lead at the top of the Championship table cut to nine points courtesy of a shock 2-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Molineux this afternoon.

Aitor Karanka's visitors inflicted their damage in the space of four minutes just before the break, Kieran Dowell's deflected shot being followed up by a fierce Ben Osborn strike in what proved to be a lacklustre performance from Nuno Espirito Santo's charges.

Derby County, who picked up a point at home against Bristol City last night, remain in second place while Aston Villa move up to third courtesy of a 3-1 victory over Barnsley - their first home league win over the Tykes in 46 years.

Sheffield United picked up just their second win in the last 11 games, defeating Norwich City 2-1 at Carrow Road to ensure that they will end the weekend still in the top six.

Fulham ran riot at Craven Cottage, putting six past Burton Albion to move one point off the playoffs and send the Brewers to the bottom of the table.

Arguably the game of the afternoon saw Millwall claim a late 4-3 win at Leeds United and move further away from the relegation scrap. The Whites came from two goals and a man down to lead 3-2, only to concede twice in the dying minutes and miss the opportunity to move level on points with sixth place.

At the other end of the table, Sunderland scored their first goal in four games when they welcomed Hull City to the Stadium of Light but endured a nervy finish to secure just their second home win in 13 months, Robbin Ruiter being called upon to make an excellent save as David Meyler hunted out a late equaliser.

Lasse Vibe scored the only goal of the game 15 minutes from time to hand Brentford victory against Reading at the Madejski Stadium as the Bees' impressive run of form - five wins in their last six - continued and saw them move three points off the top six, while Middlesbrough put three past a sorry Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road to maintain their own promotion push.

Joe Garner produced a late equaliser for Ipswich Town to deny Bolton Wanderers a much-needed victory at the Macron, and fellow relegation battlers Birmingham City took a point from their trip to Preston North End.

Championship results in full: Aston Villa 3-1 Barnsley, Bolton Wanderers 1-1 Ipswich Town, Fulham 6-0 Burton Albion, Leeds United 3-4 Millwall, Norwich City 1-2 Sheffield United, Preston North End 1-1 Birmingham City, Queens Park Rangers 0-3 Middlesbrough, Reading 0-1 Brentford, Sunderland 1-0 Hull City, Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-2 Nottingham Forest