Bristol City 3 Preston North End 0

Attendance 19,169

Gary Johnson insisted that his Bristol City side will go into their play-offs semi-final against Crystal Palace in confident mood after cruising to victory over Preston North End. “We were going to look forward to the play-offs whoever our opponents were and the way we played today gives us great heart,” Johnson said. Alan Irvine, his opposite number, was disappointed with his side’s display. “That wasn’t the sort of performance that got us out of trouble,” he said. “But the players still deserve a lot of praise because we were cast adrift at the bottom not so long ago.”

Cardiff City 3 Barnsley 0

Attendance 14,469

Dave Jones was thrilled to see Cardiff City warm up for the FA Cup Final with a convincing victory. “It was good to finish with a big victory in front of our own fans,” the manager said. “We are growing as a club.” Despite the defeat, Simon Davey believes that his Barnsley side have had a good season. “It has been a long, hard season for us all, but we can look at victories over Liverpool and Chelsea [in the FA Cup], as well as being very competitive in the league,” he said. “The Championship is a fantastic division to be in and that is why we have worked so hard to stay there.”

Charlton Athletic 4 Coventry 1

Attendance 26,130

Coventry City survived being relegated from the Championship, but only because other results went their way after they were beaten away to Charlton Athletic. Chris Coleman, the Coventry manager, said: “I’m relieved. We have been in a relegation battle for three or four months and, now, it is finally over. But that’s not the way to secure your place in the Championship, with a 4-1 defeat. The players weren’t celebrating in the dressing-room, none of us were. We were exhausted and disappointed. It was the worst day of my career – and we never even got relegated.”

Scunthorpe 3 Colchester 3

Attendance 5,554

Two second-half goals from Paul Hayes handed Scunthorpe United a point. Kevin McLeod had given Colchester United the lead after 11 minutes but Jonathan Forte equalised four minutes later. Scott Vernon’s overhead kick and McLeod’s second of the game a minute later had looked like consigning Scunthorpe to defeat before Hayes pulled one back after 67 minutes. The 23-year-old then completed the comeback eight minutes from time when he lashed home his eighth goal of the season to share the spoils in what will be a League One fixture next season.

Sheffield Wed 4 Norwich 1

Attendance 36,208

Brian Laws believes José Mourinho could not have done a better job after guiding Sheffield Wednesday to safety. “Under the circumstances, and I’m not patting myself on the back, but if Mourinho was here I don’t think he could have done any better,” the Wednesday manager said. “That’s the truth. We could have thrown the towel in weeks ago, but we didn’t.” Glenn Roeder, the Norwich City manager, said: “We have to change the culture at Norwich. There’s too many players used to losing too many matches and there’s going to be a big change around in the summer.”