Tuesday’s EFL round-up: Barnsley, Luton and Bury promoted

This Tuesday night saw five games take place across the EFL divisions of the Championship, League One and League Two with results having plenty of permutations at the top of the tables.

Milwall welcomed Bristol City to the New Den knowing they had nothing to play for after guaranteeing another year of Championship football on Saturday whilst a win for the visitors would enable them to have a chance of securing a play-off spot on the final day of the season.

Lee Gregory scored for the hosts just before half time before a turnaround by the visitors in the final 15 minutes saw goals from Jamie Paterson and Famara Diedhiou give City the chance to go into the final day with their play-off ambitions still alive.

There was two games taking place in League One and two promotions. Mid-table side Fleetwood Town welcomed Sunderland to Highbury Stadium whilst Portsmouth were hosts to Peterborough United at Fratton Park. A win for Pompey and Sunderland would guarantee them the chance to gain second place and potentially even first on the final day of the season on Saturday.

Pompey eventually were overturned 3-2 by Peterborough in an entertaining affair as Kenny Jackett’s team miss out on automatic promotion whilst their victors own play-off hopes now go down to the final day at home to Burton Albion. 

Sunderland also managed to see their automatic promotion dreams end with a 2-1 defeat at Fleetwood Town. Lee Catermole struck early before goals from Paddy Madden and Ashley Eastham won the game for Joey Barton’s side.

The results mean that the Luton and Barnsley are confirmed as the two automatically promoted teams into the Championship. 

In League Two, the big clash of the night was between Tranmere Rovers and Bury. Bury were standing in second place with a win guaranteeing them promotion to League One whilst a defeat for the Shakers could open the door for Mansfield Town or MK Dons to nick their spot on the final day of the season.

A 1-1 draw with the Liverpool-based outfit secured an immediate return for the Shakers who have achieved their third promotion to League One in the last nine seasons. The result also secured Tranmere’s place in the League Two play-offs but ended their automatic play-off hopes.

Elsewhere, Newport County played host to Oldham Athletic with Newport knowing a victory would push them into the League Two play-off places whilst the visitors were playing for pride with neither promotion or relegation possible for them.

The game saw defender Mark O’Brien fire home in the 48th minute to put the Exiles ahead before Robbie Willmott secured the win in the 79th minute. Newport now have the chance to consolidate their spot in seventh with a victory at Morecambe on the final day.