Sunderland salvage a late point

The English Championship's four leading lights all failed to win on a night of shocks.

Leaders Birmingham suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Norwich as Darren Huckerby broke from deep, evaded a series of challenges and drilled a shot past Colin Doyle in the 47th minute.

Derby pulled level with Blues on 70 points as Darren Moore's 87th-minute header rescued a point for them at home to struggling QPR.

The Londoners took the lead when Paul Furlong turned and fired in a shot which rebounded off the post to Martin Rowlands, who headed home in the 14th minute.

Sunderland remain third despite a 2-2 draw at home to Stoke.

Darel Russell's low shot seemed comfortable for Darren Ward, but the goalkeeper somehow fumbled it into the net (22). The lead was short-lived though as Dean Whitehead steered in a shot after Grant Leadbitter's cross from the right was controlled by David Connolly.

Tony Pulis' men restored their advantage in first-half stoppage time thanks to Carl Hoefkens' volley but the Wearsiders clawed back level courtesy of a cool finish by Daryl Murphy in the last minute of normal time.

Wolves dropped to fifth as they lost 2-1 at midlands rivals Coventry. Dele Adebola's route one goal after 25 minutes put the Sky Blues in front at the Ricoh Arena and the sending-off of Jackie McNamara seemed set to kill off Wolves.

The dismissal had the opposite effect as Michael Kightly turned in a rebound in first-half injury time after Andy Marshall saved Seyi George Olofinjana's header.

However, Elliott Ward grabbed a winner for Coventry when he fired in from close range following a Stephen Hughes corner.

Preston replaced Mick McCarthy's side in fourth thanks to their 1-0 win over Ipswich at Deepdale. Michael Ricketts headed in Danny Pugh's cross after five minutes for the only goal with England boss Steve McClaren in attendance.

In the relegation scrap, Southend were the big victors as Richie Foran's injury-time strike secured three points against Burnley at Roots Hall.

A goalless draw looked on the cards until a weak back-header allowed Foran in to score. QPR slipped into the bottom three despite their encouraging draw at Derby, and Luton are now second-bottom after a 2-1 home defeat by Hull.

Leeds remain bottom after a 1-1 draw at Leicester.