Ronan Coughlan and Jayden Stockley were again on target as Fleetwood continued their League One survival mission with a 2-0 win at Bristol Rovers.

Coughlan grabbed his second goal in two games and Jayden Stockley his third in three as Charlie Adam’s side claimed a second consecutive victory, leaving them six points from safety.

Former Rovers academy player Ryan Broom swung over a deep cross in the 20th minute that eventually fell to Carl Johnston on the opposite flank, for the Northern Irishman to centre again. Stockley then cleverly headed back for Coughlan to swivel in the area and give the visitors a deserved lead.

Stockley doubled the lead when he headed in a Gavin Kilkenny corner, rising unmarked in the area after 52 minutes.

Chris Martin might have converted a low Antony Evans cross after 10 minutes for the home side, but Jay Lynch saved at close range, while winger Luke Thomas spurned a good chance when he collected an Evans back-heel but could not convert after half an hour.

Lynch saved from substitute John Marquis with seven minutes remaining to extinguish any late hope for the hosts, as Martin was sent off for a second yellow card in second-half stoppage time to add to Rovers’ woes.

Sekou Mara’s first brace in English football fired Southampton to a 3-0 FA Cup replay victory over Watford and a fifth-round meeting with Liverpool.

Mara smashed two strikes into the near post to score his fourth and fifth goals of the season.

Che Adams added gloss to the victory to take Saints to a 24th game undefeated and set up potentially Jurgen Klopp’s last FA Cup tie before he leaves the Reds in the summer.

Both sides made seven changes a piece from their weekend exploits in the Championship and that showed in an opening 20 minutes devoid of quality.

Hornets defender Wesley Hoedt, against his former club, and winger Matheus Martins had off-target efforts at one end, and Saints teenager Tyler Dibling dragged wide at the other as the rain swirled around St Mary’s.

The deluged pitch meant Saints’ usually slick passing was impacted, although midfielder Flynn Downes forced a tricky moment for Daniel Bachmann after slipping in behind.

The game livened up when Southampton goalkeeper Joe Lumley was left rooted as Ismael Kone’s long-range drive deflected up and skidded onto the cross bar.

Lumley was equal to Kone a little later when the Ivorian midfielder diverted Martins’ cross towards goal.

And at the other end, Bachmann’s feet improbably denied Adams from five yards in the 28th minute before Mara fired an effort wide from a corner.

The hosts continued to dominate the ball without much cutting edge, although Joe Rothwell swung a shot wide and Bachmann smothered at Will Smallbone’s feet.

Adams and Mara switched positions in the second half and it proved the perfect alteration seven minutes after the restart.

Adams, now on the left, diverted the ball through to the central Mara and the Frenchman sent Bachmann the wrong way to finish into the near post.

Adams reverted to the middle after the goal and controlled over his shoulder and then volleyed over the bar as Saints pushed for a second.

And it came six minutes after the first as Mara emphatically finished a counter-attack by thumping into the near post again, this time from outside the box.

Bachmann walked straight off following the goal, having felt his head in the first half and pointed to his eye as he was replaced by Ben Hamer.

Samuel Edozie came off the bench and should have firmly put the game to bed when brilliantly threaded through by Rothwell but he stumbled and eventually scuffed a shot straight at Hamer.

Adams finally got the goal his persistence deserved when he calmly diverted Rothwell’s sumptuous free-kick from the left flank past Hamer.

Mara curled a late effort wide but could not add the match ball as a reward for his sparkling performance, while Edozie and Sam Amo-Ameyaw both struck the post.

Idris El Mizouni piled on the pressure for managerless Port Vale, scoring the only goal in Leyton Orient’s 1-0 win at Vale Park.

Valiants goalkeeper Connor Ripley kept the visitors at bay with a string of saves until the 60th minute of this Sky Bet League One contest, when captain El Mizouni raced onto Tom James’ pass to net his first league goal in almost a year.

Orient’s win was their fifth in an eight-game unbeaten run and keeps them pushing for a play-off spot after last season’s promotion from tier four.

In contrast, Vale, who briefly topped the division in September, are now without a win in five matches and fall into the bottom four.

They axed manager Andy Crosby on Monday, putting academy director Will Ryder and staff Matt Done and Danny Lloyd in interim charge.

Busy Ripley produced a string of saves in the opening half before Jack Shorrock retaliated with a shot beaten away by Sol Brynn.

Ruel Sotiriou had a frustrating night in front of goal, denied by the crossbar and Ripley in quick succession.

But skipper El Mizouni produced a fine low finish to earn Richie Wellens’ team a deserved victory.

Exeter staged a rousing comeback to beat the 10 men of promotion-chasing Peterborough 2-1 and ease their League One relegation fears in the process.

Posh went in front on 32 minutes when Will Aimson’s clumsy tackle on Ephron Mason-Clark gifted Posh a penalty, which Harrison Burrows stroked home.

Jack Aitchison then missed a glorious chance to equalise when Josh Knight’s pass went straight to him, but he inexplicably shot straight at the floored Peterborough goalkeeper from 10 yards.

In the second half, Exeter’s Vili Sinisalo made a brilliant stop to deny Michael Olakigbe in a one-on-one, then another to keep out Ricky-Jade Jones before Posh were reduced to 10 men when Olakigbe picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Vinnie Harper on 56 minutes.

Exeter upped the tempo with Harper striking the post from 25 yards before Reece Cole’s superb free-kick on 75 minutes brought about the opener – his shot also struck the post and looked to have crossed the line off unfortunate keeper Nicholas Bilokapic, with Dion Rankine on hand to make sure.

Five minutes later, it was 2-1 as Cole’s superb cross from the right was headed into his own net by Jadel Katongo.

Posh rarely threatened thereafter with the defeat denting their promotion hopes, but Exeter are up to 14th with the win.

Vadaine Oliver’s own-goal condemned promotion-hopefuls Stevenage to a 1-0 defeat against relegation-threatened Reading at The Lamex Stadium.

The hosts spent the opening 15 minutes camped in the visitors’ half but Dan Sweeney failed to capitalise, sending a close-range header over the crossbar.

Sweeney almost made amends with a delicious delivery into the box before Jamie Reid’s teasing effort went behind for a corner.

However, the Royals had the final say of the first half.

Amadou Mbengue launched a long throw into a dangerous area with seconds remaining and after a melee inside the six-yard box, Oliver fumbled the ball into the back of his own net.

Reid could have equalised after being found at the far post midway through the second half but he failed to convert from close range.

Sweeney kept his side in the game with a superb intervention 10 minutes later, blocking Sam Smith’s right-footed effort after the forward went around Boro stopper Craig MacGillivray.

The hosts won several corners in the final 10 minutes but failed to carve out a clear-cut chance as the Royals secured just their second league win on the road this season.

Coventry will host National League South Maidstone in the fifth round of the FA Cup after Callum O’Hare netted a brace in a 4-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday.

The fourth-round replay signalled the third meeting between the sides in 17 days, the first of which was marred by racist abuse directed at Sky Blues midfielder Kasey Palmer.

Palmer wasted no time in opening the scoring against the Owls before Mark Robins’ men were pegged back by Bailey Cadamarteri’s strike inside 10 minutes.

But three goals in eight second-half minutes, including two from O’Hare and one from Haji Wright, means Coventry will host Maidstone, the lowest-ranked side left in the competition.

The Stones became the first club from outside the top five tiers of English football to reach the FA Cup fifth round since Blyth Spartans in 1978 when they beat Ipswich 2-1 at Portman Road in one of the great recent cup upsets.

Coventry got off to a fine start as Viktor Torp nipped in to dispossess Bambo Diaby inside three minutes and slid in Palmer, who waltzed unchallenged into the Wednesday box before slamming home.

Danny Rohl made nine changes to his Owls side who were hammered 4-0 by Huddersfield at the weekend and they responded well to going behind when Mallik Wilks scuffed off target before Michael Ihiekwe’s header was diverted wide.

A mix-up in the Coventry box led to the Wednesday equaliser after Wright’s clearance hit the midriff of Josh Eccles, and Cadamarteri reacted quickest to pounce on the loose ball and squeeze in the equaliser.

Eccles was heavily involved in Coventry’s best chance to reclaim their lead before the break, winning possession high up the field before Wright poked agonisingly wide.

O’Hare also went close to putting the Sky Blues ahead for a second time when his curled effort rattled the stanchion behind the goal.

After the break came the devastating spell that killed the game.

After netting the opener, Palmer picked out O’Hare and the midfielder had time to turn and slot his effort past 18-year-old Pierce Charles to re-establish Coventry’s lead less than five minutes after the restart.

The former Aston Villa midfielder had his second of the evening seven minutes later when he latched onto a loose ball and bent a fantastic effort into the far corner.

Less than 60 seconds later the tie was over for good when Wright met Jay Dasilva’s tantalising cross and glanced his header into the far corner to secure the Sky Blues’ place in round five of the FA Cup for the first time since 2018.

Southampton forward Sekou Mara’s quickfire second-half double in the 3-0 FA Cup replay victory over Watford booked a fifth-round trip to Liverpool.

The Championship high-fliers extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 24 matches when Che Adams teed up the 21-year-old Frenchman in the 52nd minute.

Mara, who had been linked with Sheffield United in the January transfer window after making just one league start this season, doubled his tally six minutes later with his fifth goal in nine appearances, before Adams wrapped things up 14 minutes from time.

Coventry coasted to a home tie against non-league Maidstone after three goals inside nine second-half minutes dispatched Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday 4-1.

Kasey Palmer’s early opener for the hosts had been cancelled out by Bailey Cadamarteri’s 10th-minute equaliser but the game turned immediately after half-time as Callum O’Hare scored twice, with Haji Wright adding the fourth.

Theo Bair scored for a fifth consecutive cinch Premiership game as Motherwell thrashed Ross County 5-0 at Fir Park.

The former St Johnstone forward put Motherwell three up with a 38th-minute penalty to make it six goals during his run and eight for the season.

Blair Spittal struck two brilliantly-taken goals and both Andy Halliday and Jack Vale hit their first Motherwell goals as the Steelmen recorded their biggest victory since beating the same opponents by the same scoreline under Steven Hammell in October 2022.

Despite claiming only a second win in 20 league games, Stuart Kettlewell’s side moved one point off the top six and opened up a six-point lead over second-bottom County.

Derek Adams’ side have not won since beating Motherwell two months ago and have only collected two points in that period.

Bair could easily have had a hat-trick as Motherwell took advantage of an open County structure which left their two centre-backs exposed.

Motherwell were ahead in the eighth minute when Spittal fed Bair to square for Halliday to sweep home from 12 yards.

The home side doubled their lead in the 21st minute when Spittal latched on to Halliday’s pass and curled a powerful shot in off the far post from the left corner of the box.

It initially looked like being a frustrating night for Bair, who was twice set up for one-on-ones by Spittal but was foiled by George Wickens each time.

The striker could not quite reach Spittal’s low cross and was then waiting for a tap-in when Harry Paton picked the wrong option.

Bair came closer when he chested down Stephen O’Donnell’s diagonal ball and volleyed into the top corner from 18 yards, only to be denied by the offside flag.

But the Canada international got his goal after Paton was tripped by Will Nightingale, assuming penalty duties from Spittal, who missed his last effort against Alloa. Bair shrugged off a needlessly-lengthy VAR delay to send Wickens the wrong way.

County had plenty of possession in the first half but Motherwell generally blocked their way to goal with some compact defending and effective pressing. Liam Kelly comfortably saved from Simon Murray in the visitors’ only effort on target before the break.

Motherwell looked comfortable after the restart without seriously threatening and Murray missed a glorious chance to give the visitors a lifeline midway through the second half when he sent a free header wide from six yards out.

The hosts otherwise looked the far more dangerous side. Bair was again played through by Spittal and appeared to have done everything right when he dinked the ball over Wickens but his effort drifted just wide.

Wickens saved well from Georgie Gent after slack play from James Brown but the goalkeeper was well beaten in the 87th minute when Spittal curled a majestic strike into the top corner from 25 yards.

The midfielder then played a perfect pass in between the County central defence for on-loan Blackburn forward Vale to run on to and slot home in stoppage-time.

Ian Evatt spoke of the issues of forthcoming fixture congestion after Bolton’s game at Cambridge was abandoned.

Both head coaches agreed that referee David Rock made the correct decision in calling the game off after he consulted both Neil Harris and Evatt before leading the players off the pitch with only nine goalless minutes played.

The abandonment was confirmed 16 minutes later.

“I think we’ve got one Tuesday free until the end of the season, so that’s that gone,” Evatt said afterwards.

“It’s a challenge, it’s a test but there’s no way we could have played on that pitch.

“I think we’ve both got a free Tuesday two weeks from now, let’s just get it on as soon as we can.

“All I saw was what happened at Burton. The pitch was perfectly fine and then two hours later it was waterlogged.

“When I came I could see the level of the rainfall. It’s a really good pitch actually but when the pitches are as good as that it seemed to pool and waterlog really quickly.

“Once it started to pool it was only going to get worse.

“Both teams wanted to play tonight. The conditions suit probably one team more than the other, but that’s football.

“I think the referee made the right call.”

Cambridge boss Harris would have preferred the match to reach its conclusion.

He said: “From our perspective we wanted the game to be played because we thought the weather conditions sort of fell in our favour a little bit here against a really good football side.

“I understand the referee’s decision and the EFL’s decision and I’ve got no complaints about it. I just think it’s unfortunate. I thought it had the makings to be a really good game.

“I think you saw in the first nine minutes that was played, that there could have been goals at either end. I think one thing’s for sure, it wouldn’t have ended up 0-0.

“We could all see what was coming. You could see the ball just stop rolling. I think George Thomas ran past the ball at one stage because it had stopped.

“So you knew the moment was coming, you just hoped that the rain lays off a bit and the pitch has got time to recover.

“It’s not just the players, it’s the fans. How long do you wait while you leave the fans in the cold and wet?

“I’ve got no complaints with the decision. I’m disappointed, frustrated because we’re on a great run and I was really looking forward to the game.

“I thought the conditions tonight suited us to make it a real scrap. So I’m frustrated but accept it.”

Cambridge’s game with Bolton was abandoned after only nine minutes of play due to a waterlogged pitch.

Play was stopped while still 0-0, with referee David Rock taking the players off the pitch after consulting both head coaches.

After a delay of 16 minutes it was announced at 8.10pm that the decision had been taken for the game to be called off.

The only opening in the nine minutes that were played came for Cambridge, but Sullay Kaikai failed to connect with a volley when the ball fell to him centrally.

The U’s will hope conditions at the Abbey Stadium improve in time for them to host Cheltenham on Saturday.

Ivory Coast interim coach Emerse Fae has warned his players it is not their “destiny” to win the Africa Cup of Nations, despite their remarkable run to a semi-final showdown with DR Congo.

Fae’s side fought back to claim a remarkable last-gasp win over Mali in the quarter-finals after being reduced to 10 men just before half-time following Odilon Kossounou’s dismissal.

Nene Dorgeles had fired Mali in front in the 71st minute, but Simon Adingra’s 90th-minute equaliser took the tie to extra time before Oumar Diakite grabbed the winner with almost the last kick of the match.

The Elephants also came from behind against Senegal in the last 16 after scraping out of their group as the last of the four best third-placed teams.

“We are aware that we have made a spectacular recovery, that when you look at the Mali game we survived miraculously,” Fae said in a pre-match press conference in Abidjan.

“It is that mindset which allows us to pull off miracles like that, but we are not going to relax and say that because we won miraculously it means it is our destiny that we are going to win the trophy.

“The miracle against Mali did not fall out of the sky, it did not just happen like that, it happened because the players kept on fighting and believing until the end.”

Fae was appointed following the sacking of Jean-Louis Gasset after a 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea in their final group game looked to have sealed an early exit.

However, Morocco’s 1-0 win over Zambia two days later kept them in the competition and they have continued to ride their luck ever since.

“It would be a lie to say we have nothing to lose but we have come a long way,” Fae added.

“We have come from very far, we have made every effort to get our heads above water, so we are not going to give up now and we are not going to fail for fear of not reaching the final.

“We will therefore manage it by telling ourselves that it would be a shame to put pressure on ourselves.”

Diakite, who was sent off after celebrating his winner against Mali, is one of four players suspended for the semi-final, with Kossounou, Serge Aurier and Christian Kouame also banned.

Burton’s League One game with fellow strugglers Cheltenham has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

The Pirelli Stadium surface failed an inspection after heavy rain on Tuesday afternoon.

A Burton statement read: “Tonight’s game against Cheltenham FC has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

“The match referee inspected the pitch, which has been hit by a large deluge of rain this afternoon, and informed both clubs that the game could not go ahead.”

Burton are 18th in the table, four points above the relegation zone, with Cheltenham third bottom and seven points from safety.

Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen has been passed fit to play in his side’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-final against South Africa.

Osimhen was carried off on a stretcher during Nigeria’s 1-0 victory over Angola with abdominal pain and was a doubt for Wednesday’s last-four clash.

But having not travelled to Bouake on Monday, the Napoli forward arrived a day later and managed to train.

A tweet from the Super Eagles’ X account read: “Victor Osimhen has been declared fit and available for selection in the semi-final clash against South Africa on Wednesday. He has joined the team in Bouake and has trained with the squad today.”

South Africa come into the match after last week’s penalty shoot-out victory over Cape Verde.

Nigeria boss Jose Peseiro offered a reminder that his team need to play at a high level if they are to book their place in Sunday’s final against either DR Congo or hosts Ivory Coast.

He told a press conference: “We’ve done a good job now getting to the semi-finals. We’ve showed good spirit and organisation.

“We play like a team together. We must play a high level match, we know the capacity of our opponent. We must play at 100 per cent or more to beat a very good team.”

Nigeria have not lifted the trophy since 2013 but Peseiro remained hopeful his side can triumph.

The Portuguese said: “My belief is that we can win this competition. But they (South Africa) also want to win AFCON, just like us.”

AFCON semi-finals will be live on SportsMax and the SportsMax App.

Jordan reached the Asian Cup final for the first time in their history thanks to a richly deserved 2-0 win over South Korea in Qatar.

Second-half strikes from Yazan Al Naimat and Mousa Al-Taamari ended the hopes of Son Heung-min and his team-mates at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium on Tuesday.

Jordan had dominated from the off, with near misses from Hwang In-beom and Lee Jae-sung – and a penalty that was rightly overturned after a VAR check – all that pre-tournament favourites South Korea mustered. Son did not even have a shot.

Al Naimat and Al-Taamari's quality shone through, and Jordan, who were backed by a vociferous support, will now face Iran or the holders and hosts Qatar in Saturday's final.

Mauricio Pochettino has rejected suggestions he said Chelsea’s players are not good enough, claiming his words following Sunday’s defeat by Wolves were taken out of context.

Immediately after the 4-2 loss at Stamford Bridge that left his team in the bottom half of the Premier League table, the Argentinian appeared to say he did not have the squad to significantly remedy the club’s plight.

Chelsea were booed off at half-time and again at the final whistle, with audible anger directed against both the players and Pochettino personally, while the name of former owner Roman Abramovich could also be heard being sung.

A visibly emotional Pochettino said at the time he understood supporters’ fury in the aftermath of a 10th league defeat in the 23 games of his tenure, and intimated neither he nor the team have been good enough this season.

He has now, before Wednesday’s FA Cup replay at Aston Villa, moved to clarify his position, criticising reports which he felt deliberately took his words not in the spirit in which they were meant.

“Now (when) I’m watching TV and media, some guys take advantage of some situations to take my words out of context,” he said. “That question came from my post-match press conference – are the players good enough to be in the top four or top six? I said, ‘today, we were not good enough, and me the first’.

“Then they said, ‘Pochettino said the players aren’t good enough’. What? It’s taking it out of context, my words. In that game, we were not good enough. I don’t want to hide the reality.

“Be careful. Some people take advantage, when we lose a game, to say things that never appeared in my mouth. That upset me a little bit.

“The most difficult thing is to explain to my wife. ‘Why did you say the players are not good enough?’ I never said that. You know what I had to do last time? To show her the press conference. That is not a joke. It is the reality we live in.”

Pochettino also defended Ben Chilwell, who captained the side in Sunday’s defeat, after he appeared to suggest in a post-match interview that Wolves had shown more desire for the victory than Chelsea.

The defender told Sky Sports: “I think they probably showed that they wanted it more than us.”

However, Pochettino contested that Chilwell intended to question his team-mates’ will to win.

“He said, ‘we didn’t win the 50-50 duels’. That was my interpretation. The result we suffered against Wolves, we are Chelsea and everything is bigger than normal. I was talking with him and it was never his intention to say we didn’t show desire.”

Pochettino added that Thiago Silva had met with him privately to discuss a post sent by the defender’s wife on social media on Sunday that appeared to call for the manager to be sacked.

“He came today to talk with me. I’m not going to talk about (what we said). He came and wanted to talk with me.

“That was private. That’s it.”