Portsmouth faces take centre stage in promotion battle with Ipswich Town and Plymouth on brink while Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday face play-offs

Ipswich are on the brink of a return to the Championship after dismantling Barnsley with a 3-0 win at Oakwell. George Hirst and Conor Chaplin were both on the scoresheet, as the home side looked to record a record tenth straight home win.

That didn’t tell the story of what unfolded, however, with the Tractor Boys now needing to win at home to Exeter this weekend to end a four-season stay in League One.

It proved a tight affair before two quickfire goals before the break killed Michael Duff’s side, who themselves had outside hopes of a top-two finish.

Former Pompey academy youngster and triallist, Harry Isted, has been in excellent form for Barnsley, but was beaten at his near post from a very tight angle by Nathan Broadhead’s 44th-minute header. Hirst then showed his class to give team-of-the-season defender Mads Andersen a torrid time, before burying a classy stoppage-time second.

Barnsley felt Hirst was lucky to stay on the pitch, as he put an arm into Bobby Thomas’ face after the restart while on a yellow card. Isted then denied Broadhead a second with an excellent penalty stop, before Chaplin classily settled the game with a classy chip with nine minutes remaining.

Plymouth also put themselves on the verge of reaching the Championship, with a 2-0 home win over 10-man Bristol Rovers.

Steven Schumacher’s side, who have a smaller playing budget than Pompey, got the job done with second-half goals from Niall Ennis and Macaulay Gillesphey. The leaders now have a home game with safe Burton Albion and trip to Port Vale to get over the line.

That leaves highly-fancied Sheffield Wednesday looking at a play-off place, as they sit four points behind Ipswich, with former Pompey defender Darren Moore’s side having two games to play. With Barnsley safe in the play-offs, Bolton, Derby and Peterborough will vie for the final berths in the top six ahead of John Mousinho’s side in eighth. The Trotters passed up a golden chance to pull away from the others with a 1-0 home loss to struggling Accrington.

Former Pompey striker Gassan Ahadme secured Burton’s place in League One next season, with the only goal in a 1-0 win at Lincoln. Improving Oxford boosted their survival hopes with a big 4-0 home success over Cheltenham.