Championship leaders Coventry City suffered their second defeat in three games, after losing 3-2 to Birmingham City in a thrilling Midlands derby. 

Frank Lampard's side were on the wrong end of a five-goal epic, despite twice coming from behind at St. Andrew's.

Birmingham, on a six-game winless run, broke the deadlock in the sixth minute, with Marvin Ducksch volleying home Kai Wagner's well-timed cross at the far post.

The lead lasted just two minutes, though, as Josh Eccles slotted a superb curling effort into the bottom corner from 25 yards out.

Birmingham regained their advantage in the 17th minute when Lewis Koumas latched onto Patrick Roberts' throughball, before rounding Carl Rushworth and scoring.

Ellis Simms drew Coventry level again on the hour mark, squeezing a low drive home from the edge of the box.

However, Chris Davies' side edged ahead for a third time just three minutes later when Ducksch beat Rushworth from a tight angle.

It proved enough for all three points, while the visitors' misery was compounded in stoppage time when Bobby Thomas was shown a straight red card after raising his hand to the face of Phil Neumann.

After second-place Ipswich Town's trip to Portsmouth was postponed, Middlesbrough can close the gap on Coventry to six points with victory over Southampton later on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Queens Park Rangers boosted their play-off hopes with a commanding 3-0 victory over bottom side Sheffield Wednesday.

Rumarn Burrell broke the deadlock in the 14th minute with his 10th goal of the season, though a hamstring injury forced him off just seven minutes later.

Rayan Kolli's first Championship goals then sealed the points, as the substitute struck twice in the final nine minutes to end the Rs' three-game winless run.

Data Debrief: Third time unlucky for Sky Blues

Coventry have now gone three matches without victory in the Championship, winning just two of their last eight games.

Skipper Matt Grimes tried to keep things ticking over by attempting 106 passes, the highest total for a Sky Blues player in the second tier this term.

Meanwhile, QPR beat Sheffield Wednesday for the first time in the Championship since April 2021, ending a run of five games without success.