Derby County boss sends top-two message after gaining ground on Portsmouth as Bolton suffer double injury blow

Portsmouth suffered a minor blow to their League One title hopes on Saturday after drawing 0-0 at 10-man Blackpool. John Mousinho's side were unable to break the deadlock at Bloomfield Road despite having a man advantage for the entirety of the second-half, having seen Jordan Rhodes receive a straight red card just before half-time.

A day of fresh promotion twists saw Derby County come out smiling after a convincing 3-0 win at Bristol Rovers, while Bolton drew 2-2 at Exeter City. It leaves the race for promotion as tight as ever and The News has rounded up some of the fallout.

Derby warning

Derby manager Paul Warne insists neither he nor his players are looking at the League One table after victory over Bristol Rovers saw them climb into second-place. The Rams enjoyed their sixth win in nine games thanks to goals from Dwight Gayle, Tom Barkhuizen and Martyn Waghorn.

They are now just five points off Pompey in first and a single point above fellow promotion rivals Bolton. But Warne is only focusing on continuing his side's strong run of form and refused to get carried away.

“We just keep saying to the lads ‘don’t look at the league table, just keep playing your best football for 10 games and see where we’re at’,” Warne said. “Everything matters – I’ve said that from day one. I was talking to the lads today that it’s 250 days since we started this campaign and the pre-season, and everything matters, every tackle you make, every tackle you miss.”

Double Bolton blow

Bolton boss Ian Evatt has bemoaned his side's luck after suffering injury setbacks to both of his first-choice strikers. Victor Adeboyejo limped off during the 2-2 draw at Exeter City while Dion Charles was not involved in the squad at all due to a knee injury.

“We are being absolutely crucified with injuries at the moment,” he said. “Victor has hurt his hamstring, Dion has also had a reaction with his knee, so we don’t know how that is going to look, moving forward. We are obviously still waiting on Nathan. And it is tough to take. But all we can do is keep our heads down, regather, regroup and go again for the next game.”

Bolton host Oxford United on Tuesday evening before a huge game at Derby next weekend in which at least one of Portsmouth's rivals will drop points. Pompey go to the Toughsheet Community Stadium on April 13.