Championship roundup: Boro, Huddersfield win amid COVID-19 chaos

London, Dec 26, 2021 (AFP) - Middlesbrough and Huddersfield moved into the Championship play-off places on Sunday as the rest of the second tier battled coronavirus chaos.

With eight Championship matches postponed due to Covid-19 issues on Boxing Day, there was an opening for Middlesbrough and Huddersfield to climb into the top six.

They both seized the opportunity as fifth placed Middlesbrough beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at the Riverside Stadium, while sixth placed Huddersfield enjoyed a 3-2 home win against Blackpool.

A Ryan Yates own goal and a second-half strike from Andraz Sporar gave Chris Wilder's Middlesbrough a fourth victory in their five-match unbeaten run.

It was a first defeat in 10 league games for Forest, who dropped down to ninth place.

The only other game in the second tier on Sunday saw Huddersfield survive a thriller against Blackpool.

Two late goals from Sorba Thomas turned the game in Huddersfield's favour after Blackpool's Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel had been sent off just after the hour mark.

Blackpool's Jerry Yates opened the scoring with less than a minute on the clock.

Danny Ward headed Huddersfield's equaliser two minutes later and Gary Madine restored Blackpool's lead before Thomas' late double.