Championship roundup: Burnley, Sheffield United boost promotion bids, Norwich, West Brom lose ground

With Manchester City to come in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday evening, Vincent Kompany and his side could have had one eye on the showdown with the Premier League giants.

Instead, they cruised to the three points at the MKM Stadium, with Nathan Tella netting a hat-trick to take his tally for the season to 17 goals before Ozan Tufan scored a consolation in added-on time.

Further up the North East, Sheffield United also took advantage of Middlesbrough being held by Stoke City on Tuesday to record a comeback 2-1 success at Sunderland.

Despite falling behind to a Edouard Michut efforts, the Blades battled back through goals from James McAtee and Tommy Doyle to re-establish control of second spot.

While Burnley are now 19 points clear of third-placed Boro in the standings with nine matches left, Sheffield United are back to holding a six-point lead in the race for the runners-up spot.

Blackburn Rovers were also notable winners on Wednesday night as they posted a 2-1 victory over Reading at Ewood Park.

Ben Brereton Diaz and Ryan Hedges netted either side of Cesare Casadei's second-half equaliser to open up a five-point lead in the race for a playoff spot.

Luton Town joined Blackburn in registering a potentially-pivotal triumph come the end of the season as they edged out Bristol City.

Carlton Morris's fourth-minute strike proved to be the difference as the Hatters, who remain two points ahead of Blackburn, are now just one point adrift of Middlesbrough.

Meanwhile, Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion both lost ground on the top six as they were held to 1-1 draws at clubs battling relegation.

Gabriel Sara had given the Canaries the lead at Huddersfield Town, but an own goal from Grant Hanley earned the Terriers a much-needed share of the spoils.

West Brom were ahead at Cardiff City through an early Daryl Dike strike, only for Sory Kaba to score an equaliser which moved the Bluebirds four points clear of the bottom three.

As a result, Norwich and West Brom are four and five points behind the top six with four teams in close proximity below them.