David Martindale was left to rue an injury to Sean Kelly as Livingston missed a penalty in Saturday’s goalless cinch Premiership draw with Kilmarnock.

The Premiership’s bottom side failed to win for an eighth-consecutive match but picked up their first point since the victory over Motherwell on October 7.

It could have been a better day for the Lions but Bruce Anderson was guilty of missing a second-half spot-kick.

Kelly is the team’s regular taker but had to be replaced at half-time after sustaining a hamstring problem.

Martindale said: “Sean came in at half-time and said he felt his hamstring – he would have taken the penalty.

“Bruce grabbed it but your the number nine at a football club, you should be wanting to take penalties.

“Sean had missed a couple previously but I think he’d scored his last three. Sean would 100 per cent have taken it.

“We get the opportunity from 12 yards and I’m disappointed. I spoke to wee Brucey and he’s gutted.

“The wee guy lives and breathes scoring goals. You have to be disappointed he’s not hit the target, if the keeper saves it you take your hat off.

“It really sums the game up.

“To be fair, wee Brucey missed his last penalty. Your number nine is on the park so crack on.

“When you’re going through periods that we’re going through at this point, it seems that everyone is going against you.”

Martindale’s side remain five points adrift at the foot of the table and the Livi manager admitted the missed penalty left a bitter taste after recent struggles.

He added: “I thought it had nil-nil written all over it, it was one of those games.

“The fans probably didn’t realise how strong the wind was. We found it difficult to get out in the first half. They bombarded our box and it was really difficult to get any distance on the ball.

“Fair play to the players because I thought they defended the 18-yard box well.

“It’s hard. I was sitting here last week and was probably a wee bit more positive in terms of the performance. I thought we were unlucky.

“But this week after the game in the changing room there is probably a bit more adversity because you think you had those three points in the bag from 12 yards.

“Albeit we’ve stopped the run of defeats, got a clean sheet and got a point.”

Meanwhile, Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes insisted Livingston defender Mikey Devlin should have seen red for a second-half challenge on Danny Armstrong.

Devlin was booked for the foul but McInnes feels VAR should have intervened.

He said: “It’s a terrible tackle. I don’t know why (referee) Willie (Collum) has not been asked to go to the screen.

“He (Armstrong) had to come off with the injury. It’s a scissors tackle, something we are continually told is to go out the game.

“No one wants to see red cards but it’s a terrible challenge. It’s a nasty challenge and for me it should have been a red card.

“He was labouring after it, he was hurt. If you see the tackle again, you’ll see why he was hurt.

“If Willie gives a red there, VAR isn’t getting involved to say it’s not a red. I think it is a red.”

Danny Rohl spoke of his pride as his Sheffield Wednesday side came from behind to beat Queens Park Rangers 2-1 in dramatic fashion.

Late goals from Bailey Cadamarteri and Anthony Musaba completed an incredible turnaround for Wednesday and gave the home side all three points in a vital game at the bottom of the Championship table.

Rohl said: “It was a hard game against an opponent who forced us to work very hard. I don’t think in the first half either team was better than the other; it was a very even game.

“Obviously we conceded the goal and it was very hard for us against a team like QPR because they were defending so deep.

“I spoke to the team at half-time and I said we need to play the ball forward more often. We had the feeling in the second half there was something in the game for us.

“We had to take a few players off because of injury so it was even more difficult for us and this makes me so proud of the team today.

“I have talked about what has made us successful in the last few games and it has all been about having the belief until the very end.

“We got the point against Leicester, the winner against Stoke and again today. I think this shows the character and personality we have in our team.

“We could have been happy with 1-1 but there was a feeling in the stadium. Our crowd at home is fantastic and they pushed us over the line again today.

“I am so proud of the whole team. Right now everyone is working at the very limit to give the best they can for the club.”

QPR manager Marti Cifuentes felt his side needed to do more to kill the game off when they were ahead at Hillsborough.

“I am disappointed in the way we managed the last 15 minutes of the game,” he said. “We can’t lead for so long and then concede two goals like that.

“We had a clear chance to kill the game and in these moments we must take advantage. We didn’t score the second but these things can happen.

“In the past two games we have had opportunities to take big steps forward and we have not taken them. The performances have been good but we haven’t got the results we wanted.

“We have let Sheffield Wednesday get a hold of the game. They were 1-0 down at home in an important game; we had to do more to frustrate them.

“I think today we weren’t able to play the way we would have liked to. In the second half we had a few good periods of possession but we didn’t do enough to score.

“We are frustrated with the result but we need to be calm and united and stay together. We need to remind ourselves we were leading away from home for 85 minutes.

“We will take the positives but at the same time we will analyse what we need to do better. Over the festive period we have four games in 10 days and we need to make sure everyone is ready.”

Reading assistant James Oliver-Pearce revealed boss Ruben Selles apologised after being sent off during the 1-1 draw at Lincoln.

Nelson Abbey scored an own goal for the visitors after just three minutes before Harvey Knibbs secured the Royals a much-needed point in their fight for survival at Sincil Bank.

Reading had the ball in the net on two occasions before half-time, both through Paul Mukairu, but referee Bobby Madley whistled for a foul on the defender for the first before he was denied a second time by the offside flag.

And Selles was sent off when he kicked the ball away to stop the Imps taking a quick throw-in.

Due to English Football League rules, managers who are sent off are not allowed to talk to the media.

Oliver-Pearce, who took the club’s post-match media duties, said: “It was an impulsive reaction. They had a player running to take a quick throw and he tried to delay the restart.

“He was just trying to help the team. He apologised to the dressing room, it’s the first thing he did when he walked in.

“He doesn’t want to let the team down and wants to be out there to support them and the staff.

“I wasn’t aware of it as a rule personally. Apparently if the manager does it it’s a red, but if it’s one of us it isn’t.

“I’m not sure why it’s one rule for us and one rule for others. That’s the laws of the game. It’s a game we’re frustrated by because we had chances to win the game.”

Lincoln boss Michael Skubala was delighted to escape with a point after a below-par performance.

He said: “We’re relieved to get a point. We weren’t good today, let’s be honest.

“We neither effected their last line quick enough when we were trying to be direct or kept it well enough when we needed to.

“If you can’t win it, don’t lose it. That’s the story of the day for us.

“They work hard, sometimes not in the brightest way. They’re not very clever about it sometimes.

“In the end it was a big shift, a tough shift and it’s a point for us. Reading are a good side, they have some good players and we struggled to deal with them down the sides.

“I think it was offside from what I’ve seen. I think they’re fair the referees even though they went in our favour.

“I am aware of that rule now so I won’t do it. I’m not really interested in that, I just wanted to get our lads through that game.”

Pep Guardiola said Manchester City did not deserve to win after a late fightback from Crystal Palace saw them held to a 2-2 draw in a dramatic finale at the Etihad Stadium.

City dominated possession and looked to be cruising at 2-0 up following goals from Jack Grealish in the first half and Rico Lewis nine minutes into the second.

But Palace hit back with a 76th-minute Jean-Philippe Mateta goal before Michael Olise equalised in the fifth minute of stoppage time with a penalty awarded after Phil Foden caught Mateta in the box.

Dropping points for the fifth time in six Premier League matches, in their last outing before heading to Saudi Arabia for the Club World Cup, leaves the champions in fourth place, three points behind leaders Liverpool, who host Manchester United on Sunday.

Boss Guardiola, whose side had drawn 4-4 with Chelsea, 1-1 with Liverpool and 3-3 with Tottenham and lost 1-0 to Aston Villa prior to last Sunday’s 2-1 win at Luton, said: “It is not bad luck, it was deserved, we gave away two points.

“When you give this penalty, you deserve it. You see the chances we created, the chances we concede, it’s quite similar, except the Chelsea game, all this season. But we are not able to close the game.

“There was a chance (for Palace) in the first half…but until the (Mateta) goal, they didn’t do anything.

“So the team was really, really good. But at the end, when you give Crystal Palace this penalty, you don’t deserve it. It’s like the penalty for Chelsea (Cole Palmer’s late equaliser).

“The games against Spurs, Liverpool, today, were excellent, but we were not able to win the game. What has happened is because we are not consistent enough to close the games, and many reasons.”

Guardiola denied City were not playing with the same intensity for the final 20 minutes, before adding: “18-yard box, you have to be careful, and we were not. We don’t deserve to win.”

Treble-winners City, who were once again without injured forward Erling Haaland, are now set to play Japanese outfit Urawa Red Diamonds in the Club World Cup semi-finals on Tuesday, with the final taking lace on Friday.

Guardiola said: “Six, seven-hour flight with the result, just three days to recover, three days for a potential final – it is what it is. Now we are down and we lift as quick as possible and go to compete there.”

Gary Caldwell criticised referee Ross Joyce’s decision to send off Jack Aitchison following struggling Exeter’s 1-1 draw at Stevenage.

Aitchison received a second yellow card for apparent dissent in the 43rd minute of the Sky Bet League One contest, with Carl Piergianni heading Boro into the lead shortly afterwards.

Half-time substitute Yanic Wildschut’s first league goal for the Grecians within two minutes of the restart earned the 10-man visitors a battling point but Caldwell, who was booked himself following Piergianni’s goal, could not hide his frustration with the officials.

“We don’t know what he’s sent him off for,” he said.

“He hasn’t sworn, all their players said he didn’t swear at the ref and he’s chosen to send him off. And when we ask him politely why at half-time, he refuses to tell us.

“Only we were getting booked in this stadium because referees are intimidated at this stadium.

“We are very respectful, everything goes against us and we have to deal with that. We dealt with it in a really positive manner.”

The Grecians’ winless league run stands at 12 matches but their under-pressure boss believes the second-half fightback shows the squad are still playing for him.

“I have never doubted that for one second,” he said. “I really believe in this group of players, they give so much.

“A lot has gone against them in recent months and when that happens as a footballer, confidence gets affected and it’s a difficult thing to play through.

“You have seen their character and resilience and we have to use this as a springboard going into the coming games.

“They can all be really proud of how they went about the second half, both the way we defended and when we had the ball.”

Caldwell’s opposite number Steve Evans felt Aitchison should have seen red for the challenge which brought his first yellow card but admitted his side did not do enough to win the game, despite Jordan Roberts and Elliott List spurning fine chances late on.

“We were far from our best,” he said.

“We looked as if Tuesday night’s game took its toll on us in terms of sharpness and freshness. We were off it the first 25 minutes then we got it into the game.

“With the sending off, my only question is why is he even on the pitch to receive a second yellow? He should have been in the shower room after running up and kicking Louis Thompson off the ball.

“Did we do enough in terms of the final pass? No. Did we miss a couple of huge chances? Yes.

“We had great opportunities, great overload, we had command of the ball. But our quality, for once, wasn’t there.”

Port Vale boss Andy Crosby heaped praise on hat-trick hero Ethan Chislett following his side’s 3-2 win at home to Wigan.

Chislett’s first two goals were cancelled out by the visitors but his third was enough to clinch victory and lift Vale above Wigan in the table to 15th.

Crosby said: “He’s a top player and credit goes to him because the finishes are great.

“He could’ve probably had a few more but it’s great for him, he hadn’t scored since August and now three in one game.

“We’ve tried to look at how we can improve his goalscoring ability. I showed him clips of all his goals over the past four years and he said it gave him a whole lot of confidence.”

The two first-half strikes looked to put the hosts out of sight, but a comeback from Wigan after the break squared things up.

Chislett’s incredible solo effort in the 82nd minute wrapped up the win.

“We do a lot of work on the opposition and how they press and how we can break through that press.

“You have to play through teams but then you also need to penetrate on the last line as well. It is important we get our wing-backs on the last line.

“When you find that rhythm and that connection receiving the ball in space then it can go on to affect the game.

“When the players came over after they got back into it, I just said ‘don’t look at the scoreboard or the time. just play the game’.

“We were still in control of the game at that point, even with our poor moments which we have to get better at.

“They’ve got really good attacking players and they should obviously have more points because of the deduction and the quality they have got.”

Latics boss Shaun Maloney was frustrated with his side’s first-half performance but gave his players credit for getting back into the game.

“Today we got hurt, and when our levels are slightly down in any game we can get hurt,” he said.

“We have to give Port Vale a lot of credit, they were very good.

“From my team’s point of view, we are not going to win games when we are like that, but the second half was everything and if we lose then that’s how we want to go out.

“The goal before half-time wasn’t the issue. If we had gone in at 1-0 it would have probably been unfair to Port Vale.

“They were miles ahead of us. I want to win every game, I think we have been on a really good run and this one hurts in particular.

“We needed the fans and they stayed with us. In the second half, we gave them everything and full credit to the players for that.

“I can accept getting beat with a performance like that in the second half.”

Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson felt his side should have been more ruthless following the 1-0 victory over struggling Fleetwood at Highbury Stadium.

A goal from Archie Collins just before the break proved to be the difference as Ferguson’s side made it five League One games without defeat.

In a first half that was dominated by the visitors, United had plenty of chances to take the lead with Ricky-Jade Jones and Kwame Poku coming close in the opening moments.

But Peterborough eventually broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute when Collins’ long-range effort deflected past Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch before nestling in the bottom corner.

Posh could have extended their lead in the second half when Lynch brilliantly stopped Jones’ close-range header while Posh goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic denied Ben Heneghan in the dying moments as the home side almost grabbed an unlikely equaliser.

Peterborough are now in the League One automatic-promotion places after four wins in their last five.

Ferguson said: “It should have been at least three after 10 minutes but it wasn’t. We started the game how I wanted us to with the authority we’ve got.

“But we’ve just got to be more ruthless, we’ve blown teams away at times but away from home against a team that’s not in form, if we get that second goal it kills the game.

“It wasn’t comfortable at the end and, ultimately, we’re hanging on in a game that should have been very comfortable.

“It was a good game to watch, I just wish we could have been more ruthless, but it’s another win and another clean sheet.

“The clean sheets are going to be key and if we can keep clean sheets like we have been then we’re going to have a bit of a chance.

“You’ve got to come to these places and beat what’s in front of you and today we did that.”

Defeat was Fleetwood’s sixth in a row in all competitions and they have not found the net in almost 10 hours of football.

Manager Lee Johnson said: “I think it’s been a massive effort to get that performance.

“I thought we rode our luck a little bit in the first 15 or 20 minutes but I think we did OK.

“I thought we defended OK and worked really hard and we went 4-4-2 to try and be more positive in the game.

“We had two golden chances really, in the first half with Josh Earl and then with Ben Heneghan at the end.

“We weren’t without chances and it’s another game where we haven’t scored and another game that we’ve conceded.

“On a positive note, I thought it was excellent to see how many of our academy players were in and around the first-team squad today and that’s nice to see.

“But we can’t be victims and we have to be fighters. We’ve got to get through January and we’ve got to get through this season and then I’m certain that this time next year the complexity of the league position changes.”

Mauricio Pochettino praised Chelsea’s response to back-to-back Premier League defeats as they recovered to beat Sheffield United 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

The hosts fought back from a dour first-half showing – and off the back of losses to Manchester United and Everton – to hit two quick-fire goals in the second period through Nicolas Jackson and the influential Cole Palmer.

The first was well worked between Palmer and Raheem Sterling, the summer signing from Manchester City working the ball wide and continuing his run into the box to tap home Sterling’s low cross.

And Palmer was the architect minutes later as Jackson made it two, lifting the ball into the box for Sterling and Conor Gallagher to attack, and as it was spilled by Blades goalkeeper Wes Foderingham, Palmer was there to knock it back to Jackson for 2-0.

It had been a maddening first half for home supporters to endure, with a single effort on target to show from their side despite racking up 80 per cent possession against the league’s bottom club.

It took Palmer’s intervention after 54 minutes, playing a clever ball to Sterling who shot past his man with a burst of acceleration, starting and finishing the move that finally broke the Blades down after a turgid opening.

His creative involvement for the second was a further reminder of the 21-year-old’s capacity to turn a game single-handedly as yet another scoreless outing loomed for Pochettino’s side.

Afterwards the manager pointed to a change of position in the second half – swapping with Sterling to take up a more central role – as the key.

“I think we talked a lot during the week after Everton about needing drastic change,” said Pochettino. “It was important to confirm that we are in a good way. The team in the first half was frustrated because we couldn’t find a way past the low block of Sheffield United.

“We didn’t show the capacity to be flexible and it was easy for them to identify our position and to block us and make us put the ball in positions that were easy for them to stop.

“The second half we were much better, we fixed things. The team started to find better possibilities to play, to link much better. Cole from the right, going into the space, started to link better with team-mates and be the player that we want to use – a playmaker.”

Pochettino left midfielder Enzo Fernandez on the bench, with Gallagher instead taking up a position in central midfield alongside Moises Caicedo.

The manager confirmed the World Cup-winner is likely to return for Tuesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final at home to Newcastle.

“You only can play 11,” he said. “It’s a big competition, sometimes you need one profile or another and you choose the players. The combination between Caicedo and Gallagher, using Cole like a number 10, that was the possibility for the best combination for today.

“I’m happy because three points are important and Tuesday we have an important game against Newcastle. To arrive in that game with a good feeling is really important, to have the confidence that we can go through.”

Blades boss Chris Wilder reflected on a game in which his players gave travelling supporters much to be proud of.

“I don’t like when one player goes off to clap supporters on their own, if we’re going to do it we go together,” he said.

“That’s important to me and it was important that they quickly got that message because for a big period, we were in the game and we were fighting our way against an outstanding manager and some top individuals.”

Brendan Rodgers felt compelled to apologise to the Celtic fans for the first time after a performance as he admitted his side lacked desire in a 2-0 home defeat by Hearts.

A free header from Lawrence Shankland and Stephen Kingsley’s 25-yard free-kick put Hearts two ahead inside 30 minutes and there was little sign of a Celtic comeback as they fell to consecutive league defeats for the first time in a decade.

“Our desire and the mentality right from the off was nowhere near the level of a Celtic team,” Rodgers said. “Very passive, and lacked fluidity.

“The game started a little bit slow, but our ability to keep the ball in the final third and create wasn’t quite there.

“Then, we got outdone very naively from a corner. The second goal was a fantastic free-kick, but, when you look at the build-up and what led to the free-kick, it was so passive it was frightening.

“It is a real, real sore one. For the first time I have been here, over my two periods, I would have to apologise to the supporters – because that level is nowhere near the standard of performances required at Celtic. Nowhere near it.

“That lack of consistency and mentality and desire, it is way, way off what this club demands. You’re sat there in mid-December with 60,000 in and that’s how you perform. It is not acceptable.”

Only two weeks ago Rodgers claimed he had never been angrier as a manager following a similar first-half performance against St Johnstone. They fought back to win in Perth but have now lost to Kilmarnock and Hearts and potentially lost their advantage in the title race – Rangers are five points behind but have two games in hand.

The Celtic manager absolved the “brilliant” Callum McGregor from blame along with Liam Scales and Matt O’Riley and added: “I can’t say I am surprised. I have seen performance level (dip) and (am) having to activate. When you are having to do that all the time then that is a worry.

“You can’t keep having to go into expletives, you need to find the solution and the ambition as a player to come into these games after a midweek game, after a good performance in the Champions League, you need to come into the game and produce the level.

“It always starts for me against the ball and when it’s so passive and you are not aggressive enough, that for me is always your desire and how much you want to win the game.

“Sadly for us that then goes on to the side when you have the ball and it just wasn’t good enough.”

Hearts ended a 14-game losing run at Celtic Park and secured their first win at the stadium since 2009.

Manager Steven Naismith felt his side’s composure was the key factor.

“The biggest aspect is when you win the ball,” he said. “You need to cause them problems, and I think we did that. Our composure on the ball leads to us getting the corner, it leads to us getting the free-kick that get us the goals.

“That’s not just luck for Shanks at the back post, it’s having a calmness in these big moments.

“Or whether it’s our defenders deciding they can see pass and they make the pass.

“I don’t think there’s a better team in Scotland that press than Celtic, they are really aggressive, they are really tough.

“And we played through it at times, we were good enough to do it, and that’s massively important when you are playing against the Old Firm.”

Ryan Lowe bemoaned Preston’s “Jekyll and Hyde” performance as they shipped four second-half goals in a 5-1 Championship defeat at home to Watford.

Will Keane gave the Lilywhites an early lead but Vakoun Bayo levelled just before half-time, precipitating the hosts’ collapse.

Bayo, Matheus Martins, Edo Kayembe and Ismael Kone all struck after the break to earn Watford a second away league win on the bounce.

Lowe said: “In the first half we were fantastic. We looked like we’d carried on from where we left off against Huddersfield.

“I asked the lads at half-time to get on the front foot more, but then straight from the kick-off, one ball through the middle goes on to kill us.

“I think that knocked the stuffing out of us – you have to be solid and hard to break down, but we didn’t see that in the second half today.

“It’s Jekyll and Hyde stuff. The difference between the two halves was incredible really.

“You have to try and keep good teams like Watford at bay, but we gifted them opportunities.

“We have been solid this season, but definitely not today. We can’t let things like this happen. We’ve been punished big time for poor defending.

“I’ve stressed that to the players after the game and they need to take a bit more responsibility.

“Individually and collectively, we just can’t let that happen again.”

Preston continue to struggle at home and have now lost three in a row on their own patch.

They have now lost four of their last six in the Championship and were booed off at the end of the game.

Watford had only scored seven goals in nine away games before the second-half goal glut and have a poor recent record at Deepdale, having won just once on their last 16 visits.

Watford manager Valerien Ismael said: “I’m very pleased with the performance of all the players, of course.

“I’m pleased to see the understanding we’re now getting.

“The players have to learn that ruthless aspect and we saw that today.

“We created a good momentum from early in the game and we saw that focus that you need at a tough place like Preston.

“I can see the evolution after six months.

“This was a typically-tough Championship game, so we knew we’d have to be solid and be ready. It’s about being ruthless too.

“We got off to a great start in the second half and when you see shots go in like that, it gives everyone confidence and belief.

“The momentum definitely changed after half-time but credit goes to all the players because it’s given us and the fans a great feeling.

“At the moment we’ll just keep the focus on the games we have. We have a lot in the next couple of weeks running up to the new year and our job is to make sure we keep performing.

“After that, we will have a clearer picture of where we are.”

Liam Manning joked that he had aged ten years watching his City team defend for their lives to beat impressive Sunderland in the Sky Bet Championship.

Tommy Conway’s 20th-minute penalty, after Taylor Gardner-Hickman was tripped by Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, proved enough to settle a hugely competitive game at Ashton Gate.

Play-off hopefuls Sunderland dominated for long periods of the second half but could find no way past inspired City keeper Max O’Leary, who made brilliant saves to keep out two Luke O’Nien headers and one from substitute Jobe Bellingham.

Head coach Manning said: “Max was outstanding, not just with his saves but the composure he showed under pressure.

“I’ve aged 10 years watching the game but I’m delighted for the lads because of the togetherness and spirit they showed.

“We have played better, but despite defending for long periods we were always a threat and had chances to extend the lead.

“I have a terrific group of players and, while there is room for them to develop, they lack nothing in effort.

“In a tough league like the Championship, you cannot afford to get too high when you win or too down when you lose.

“What the fans want to see above all is a team putting bodies on the line and giving 100 per cent. There could be no complaints on that score today.

“The commitment to block shots and stop crosses was fantastic. It had to be because Sunderland played well, particularly in the second half.

“Still, I felt we were always capable of catching them on the break. Anis Mehmeti has hit a post and Harry Cornick was through on goal after going on as a substitute.”

Sunderland were caught playing out from the back for the penalty, having survived a previous scare doing the same, and interim coach Mike Dodds was understandably frustrated.

“My anger is mainly directed at a mad 15 minutes in the first half when we invited Bristol City to take the lead,” he said.

“Apart from the penalty incident, there were three or four other lapses that went unpunished and it gave them impetus.

“If I had seen that sort of sloppiness in training, the players concerned wouldn’t have been in the team.

“I haven’t seen it from the team before and don’t want to again. There were words spoken about it at half-time.

“We completely controlled the second half and created chances without taking them. I can live with that, but what happened in the first half was unacceptable.

“Their keeper has made some good saves, but at times our finishing could have been better.”

Of his own situation, Dodds added: “The club have been great in communicating with me and the ball is firmly in their court over what happens next.

“Whoever becomes the next head coach will inherit a fantastic dressing room at a club definitely on the up.”

The hosts hit a post in the first half through Mehmeti’s curling shot but had to survive several Sunderland penalty appeals during a backs-to-the-wall second half.

Playing towards their 2,600 travelling fans, the visitors applied constant pressure, only to be denied by O’Leary and some committed last-ditch defending.

Cornick had a great chance to settle the outcome when breaking clear, but the hosts were hanging on at the end before celebrating three hard-earned points.

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson admitted to a “strange old mix of emotions” after his side’s dramatic 2-2 draw with Northampton.

Goals from Jack Armer and Ryan Edmondson, who scored his first of the season, looked to have set the Cumbrians on their way to a first league win for almost two months following Shaun McWilliams’ opener for the visitors.

But Kieron Bowie’s dramatic 93rd-minute strike salvaged a point for the Cobblers.

“It’s a strange old mix of emotions,” said Simpson, who was buoyed by his side’s performance.

“I’ve got to say to start it’s a massive improvement from the last few weeks.

“I’m really disappointed, I’m gutted about the goal and I’ve got to say the equaliser was a fantastic finish from Bowie.

“But I’m so pleased with the performance and the character and the effort. All of the things you can talk about.

“That’s certainly given everybody a lift and something to build on.

“There were lots of good things. I thought a lot of players were excellent. There were so many good things.

“We probably did deserve three points, I’m biased and they might now say that.

“It gives me hope and belief that if we play and compete like that then we should be okay. We have to do that consistently.

“The first goal was a horrible goal to give away and it shouldn’t happen.

“We’re really struggling to score that first goal, unfortunately when you’re on the run we’re on you get little things like that happening.”

Jon Brady’s Northampton have lost just once in their last six league outings.

He also praised his side’s spirit, saying: “It was great character from the boys to get a point.

“We made a couple of changes towards the death and Kieron pops up with the equaliser.

“Overall we showed great character and great spirit to get 2-2. It’s a tough place to come.

“You’ve got to give credit to them. They’re fighting for their lives and fighting for their manager.

“You can see they’ve got immense spirit in their squad.

“They had two changes and scored in the second half. I haven’t seen it back, but I can’t remember any other efforts for them.

“To get a point here at a really tough place to come, when you consider how the game went, it’s a good point.

“In the main you’ve got to say these boys have been really consistent. You can have days where you might lose and, if you can get a draw out of it, it’s a real positive about a team that never gives in.

“They’re the types of days that lift the team and galvanise them.”

Stephen Robinson jumped to the defence of Mark O’Hara after the St Mirren skipper missed a second-half penalty in the goalless draw with Motherwell.

O’Hara had his spot-kick parried away by Liam Kelly shortly after half-time, and the Buddies then survived a number of close-calls as the visitors failed to take advantage of four one-on-one opportunities.

St Mirren slipped to fourth in the cinch Premiership table, dropping behind Hearts on goal difference.

“There’s no criticism of Mark, people miss penalties – he’s brave enough to step up every week and take them,” said St Mirren boss Robinson.

“Even the rebound is affected by the wind, it puts it back to him so quickly he can’t react.

“Credit to Liam, he makes a good save and Mark misses it – it happens in football and you dust yourself down, we had chances to win the game outwith that.”

Despite his side losing their grip on third place in the Premiership table, Robinson insists that every point picked up is a positive for Saints.

The windy conditions caused havoc for both teams during a fiercely-contested encounter in which neither side was able to find a cutting edge.

“The wind plays a huge part in the game of course, it’s very difficult to be able to play but credit to both teams – for a neutral I’d imagine it was quite an exciting game,” added Robinson.

“Every point when you are St Mirren is a point gained, trust me.

“This group have raised expectations way above where they probably should be which is great and that’s credit to them.

“We’re a similar sized club as Motherwell and you could see how delighted they were to get a point at the end – it maybe shows how far we have come and it’s up to us to keep meeting those expectations.

“I believe we are, we’re sitting fourth in the league in the middle of December. I’m sure at the start of the season we would have been happy with that.”

Manager Stuart Kettlewell was frustrated as the Steelmen failed to take their chances and end their search for an elusive victory.

Motherwell have not managed to register a win in their last 14 league fixtures and have slipped into the relegation play-off spot.

“Ultimately we can all debate and argue about what happens over the course of 90 minutes but we by far had the best chances in the game,” Kettlewell said.

“I understand that Liam Kelly makes a save from a penalty and one down to his right-hand side from Thierry Small, outwith that the clear-cut chances in the game were ours.

“I expect when certain guys are landing in those positions, like Blair Spittal, Callum Slattery, Mika Biereth, Theo Bair towards the end, I’m thinking we’re getting the right guys in position to convert them.

“There’s a little bit of frustration of course that we’ve not come away with three points because I thought we were well organised, well drilled in tough conditions – it was always going to be hard coming here without the wind, the rain and everything else that came with it.

“We want to win a game, we want to try break this duck and move in the right direction, but performance-level wise and what we put out on the pitch today, I’m relatively happy with overall.”

Russell Martin hailed his “relentless” Southampton side for finally blowing apart a Championship rival after thrashing 10-man Blackburn 4-0.

Samuel Edozie, Stuart Armstrong, Sekou Mara and Carlos Alcaraz all netted as Saints continued their best unbeaten run for 39 years and made it five home victories in a row.

Southampton’s single-digit goal difference and early-season slump had seen them fall behind pace-setters Leicester and Ipswich, but after 14 matches without defeat, they are starting to put pressure on the top two.

Martin said: “We’re not even halfway through the season and there is so much more room to grow.

“Hopefully we can have more days like today but even when we have only been winning by one goal in our eyes it has been convincing.

“You can’t always win convincingly, not even the teams at the top are leaving teams in their wake.

“I felt like we needed the second goal in the second half and always looked likely to get it even before the sending-off.

“I don’t know how you define a convincing win but we have got the goals we felt have been coming.

“We have been punished a couple of times for not scoring the goals but today we were relentless. The league is so tight and the goals might be really important at the end of the season.

“I’m really pleased we got the third and fourth goals as it is a fair reflection of the players’ mentality and creation. I enjoyed watching the team.

“That is five wins at home in a row and that is really amazing for the players. If we keep putting in performances like that we’ll see where it takes us.”

After dominating the first half, Saints finally led in the 44th minute when Edozie – on his first start for two months – diverted James Bree’s corner home.

Rovers defender Callum Brittain was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away in the 55th minute, having already been booked for pulling Kyle Walker-Peters’ shirt.

And from then on Saints turned on the style.

Stuart Armstrong stroked in after following in on Flynn Downes getting chopped down to make it 2-0 in the 64th minute.

Mara won a penalty, only for Alcaraz to chip over, but the Frenchman tapped in Ryan Fraser’s cross before Alcaraz thumped in a fourth deep into stoppage time.

Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson revealed Brittain apologised in the dressing room after the match, but pinpointed his lack of discipline as the turning point at St Mary’s.

“It is a disappointing day. It is always going to be a difficult game against a team that is a Premier League squad,” he said.

“We knew that but we came with the intention of winning the game. In the first half we were quite solid and gave one chance away but we weren’t quite good enough on the ball today and the first goal’s timing hurts our game.

“The game totally changed after the red card and being a player behind against a Premier League side is difficult. We were still in the game after the first goal but after the second booking the game is over.

“Callum apologised to his team-mates in the dressing room immediately. A game where we could have got something out of it at 1-0, then suddenly the game is over.”

Neil Harris was delighted with Cambridge’s attitude after securing his first win since taking over as Mark Bonner’s replacement.

Cambridge came from behind through Elias Kachunga and Gassan Ahadme’s penalty to beat Blackpool 2-1, having earlier gone behind to a Jordan Rhodes header. Harris’ side held on despite Paul Digby’s late red card.

“I can’t praise them enough, for not just today’s result but large parts of the performance,” Harris said afterwards.

“It’s about personality and character to get three points, and we showed that.

“It was a scrappy performance at times, but a battling performance, I’d say a Cambridge United performance in my opinion. The week in front of it was first class.

“Momentum is a key word. Today we certainly wanted a positive out of it, a positive result was the primary target, but if not then a really positive performance to carry that momentum.

“To get a really strong performance, to win the game like we did, again in adversity like last week from two down to get a point, today down to 10 men to see the game out, I credit my players. That shows I’ve got character in that changing room.

“Momentum carries for another week to Friday night. We’ve got a huge game on Friday night. I’ve said to the boys WNG – win the next game mentality is our work. My focus now is on Exeter already.

“To carry that momentum, to get three points from my first game here at the Abbey as Cambridge United manager, I can’t be more privileged and proud.”

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley expressed his disappointment at his team’s display after being pegged back.

“At 1-0, we were in control of the game, for an away team. We were comfortable, but the two goals that we conceded were really poor goals,” he said.

“Both goals were really questionable in terms of decision-making from the referee. The first one’s a foul, a clear foul and he’s standing right next to it. I’m not sure why he doesn’t give it. The second one’s a clear handball and he misses it again.

“Having said that, with two passes they’re clean through on our goal on both occasions. We were far too open in those moments. From being 1-0 and in control of the game, we give a team that’s (in their) first home game for the new manager, we gave them a lift.

“Then they have something to hold onto in the second half. We showed an inability in the final third to create enough meaningful opportunities to get back into the game.

“If you’re not at your best you’ve got to try and pick up something on the road and we haven’t done that today.”