The Preston manager, Paul Heckingbottom, praised Milutin Osmajic after the forward notched twice in the 3-0 win over Watford as he awaits the outcome of his charge of biting an opponent.
Osmajic made his first Championship start of the season in the contest at Deepdale six days on from being charged by the Football Association over his alleged biting of Blackburn defender Owen Beck during the 0-0 draw with Rovers on 22 September.
While the Preston director, Peter Ridsdale, had said in a TalkSport interview that the Montenegro international had accepted the charge, with no further statement on the matter having come from the FA, he remained available for selection. He went on to produce finishes in the 53rd and 65th minutes, to which Ali McCann added a superb 75th-minute strike.
Heckingbottom said of Osmajic: “[I was] impressed with him. He scored goals for us in the cup [a hat-trick in a 5-0 Carabao Cup second-round win at Harrogate], played well again against Fulham [in the next round] and deserved his opportunity. I’m not going to punish him twice, me twice, the club twice, the fans twice. We’ll wait and see what the governing body does, and how we deal with that, and that process is ongoing.””
The new Stoke manager, Narcis Pelach, revealed a chat with four-goal hero Tom Cannon was key to his striker’s stunning display in Stoke’s 6-1 Championship win over Portsmouth. Cannon was substituted at half-time in the 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough on Saturday but the Leicester loanee justified his starting role with two goals in each half as he became the first Stoke player to score four times in a game since Peter Thorne 24 years ago.
Sam Gallagher and Andrew Moran also opened their Stoke accounts as Pelach gained his first win as Stoke boss. Mark O’Mahoney had equalised before winless Pompey’s wheels fell off.
Pelach said: “I replaced him [Cannon] and said: ‘I cannot be waiting for performances in the middle of a game. I needed to do what was right for the team. But I want to let you know I am going to back you. Three, four, five bad performances will not change my opinion about you’. I know he is a good player but he needs game time.
“Life is about confidence and I have confidence in him. I told him, ‘you need to feel free and you will start again’. I want to base something that is based on trust. He is a young player so we need to be supportive and tonight he got his reward.”
Sheffield United extended their unbeaten Championship start and climbed up to third place after beating Swansea 1-0 at Bramall Lane. The visitors’ defender Josh Tymon’s first-half own goal proved decisive, while the hosts also hit the woodwork twice in the second period as they secured their fifth league win of the season.
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Liam Manning described booing from home fans as “disappointing and unhelpful” after his Bristol City team had failed to break down a well-organised Sheffield Wednesday side in a goalless draw.
The visiting centre-back Di’Shon Bernard excelled as defences won out in a game of few chances that saw the Wednesday goalkeeper James Beadle make the two best saves; from an Anis Mehmeti header and a stoppage-time shot from the substitute Mark Sykes.
While the Bristol City goalkeeper Max O’Leary did not have to make a testing save, the final whistle brought a negative reaction from the stands as boos rang around the ground. Manning said: “I guess it’s the way of the world. The lads didn’t deserve it because they put in a great shift and there were so many positives to take out of the performance. I would rather talk about that than the booing. But obviously it affects players and tonight it was disappointing, as well as unhelpful. I can’t control it, but it was unfair.”
