Colchester 2 Ipswich 0Colchester faced the drop if they were defeated at Layer Road, but a brace from Scott Vernon secured a comfortable three points.
Colchester took the lead on 29 minutes as Kevin Lisbie did well to hold up the ball before feeding Vernon, who coolly prodded past advancing goalkeeper Stephen Bywater.
The second half was then an end-to-end affair and it was Colchester who could have doubled their lead as Lisbie was again the architect, but Johnnie Jackson dragged his effort wide when unmarked in the penalty area.
However, Williams' side were not forced to wait long for their second as on 73 minutes Vernon netted as he latched onto a long ball and fired in left-footed from the edge of the box.
Norwich 2 Burnley 0 
Norwich dented Burnley's hopes for a place in the play-offs as they ran out comfortable winners at Carrow Road.
The Canaries wasted little time in taking the lead as veteran Dion Dublin, who is hanging up his boots at the end of the season, put the home side in front on two minutes.
And on the stroke of full-time Norwich substitute Ched Evans, on loan from Manchester City, showed neat footwork to finish after being set up by Darren Huckerby to secure the points.
Plymouth 1 Charlton 2Ten-man Charlton edged out promotion rivals Plymouth at Home Park as they came from behind in a thrilling contest.
Charlton were hit by an early blow as goalkeeper Nicky Weaver was sent off after only three minutes, but the Addicks then managed to keep their hosts at bay for the first half.
Plymouth, though, made their numerical advantage count on the hour mark as Jermaine Easter met a header across goal from Gary Teale to sweep past debutant shot-stopper Robert Elliot.
However, Charlton were back in the contest five minutes later as Plymouth goalkeeper Luke McCormick failed to claim a cross and Zhi Zheng headed across goal for Leroy Lita to nod an equaliser.
And the Addicks then stunned their hosts on 76 minutes as in-form Lita, who has now scored three goals in two games, was in the right place to capitalise from another error by McCormick.
QPR 2 Preston 2QPR produced a dramatic late comeback to stun Preston at Loftus Road.
Preston took the lead in the 37th minute as Neil Mellor hit his eighth league goal of the season and his third strike in two games.
And after the interval Tamas Priskin doubled Preston's lead as he hit the back of the net on 64 minutes.
However, QPR came storming back as Gareth Ainsworth (90) and Dexter Blackstock (93) struck to secure a point.
**** 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1In the day's lunchtime kick-off, a second-half equaliser gave Sheffield Wednesday a much-needed point in their relegation scrap against **** at Glanford Park.
But both sides will feel disappointed not to have taken three points in what was billed as a must-win game.
A spectacular goal from Ian Morris after 18 minutes gave **** the lead, but a fortunate effort from Ben Sahar four minutes after half-time allowed Brian Laws' team to claim a point.
Sheffield United 3 Leicester 0A James Beattie hat-trick inside the opening 19 minutes allowed United to cruise to victory against Leicester at Bramall Lane.
The game began in explosive fashion as Leicester defender Patrick Kisnorbo was handed his marching orders for bringing down Billy Sharp inside the 18-yard area as the striker was clean through on goal.
Referee Mike Pike was left with little option to dismiss last-man Kisnorbo after one of his assistants called the foul on 12 minutes.
Beattie, though, was not complaining as he fired in the rebound after goalkeeper Paul Henderson had saved his initial penalty.
And Beattie then doubled his tally on 14 minutes as he fired in a skidding 30-yard free-kick.
Beattie then ensured he would be taking the match ball home on 19 minutes as he prodded in from close range.
Southampton 2 Bristol City 0Southampton boosted their hopes of survival as City failed to extend their lead at the top of the table.
Southampton deservedly took the lead on 35 minutes as Stern John spectacularly volleyed in after Jason Euell had headed on.
In a stop-start second half disrupted by a number of niggling injuries, City struggled to look capable of mustering an equaliser.
And it was the Saints who almost doubled their lead midway through the second half as City goalkeeper Adriano Bassu produced an excellent save to deny Mario Licka.
Southampton, though, then had a deserved second on 84 minutes as Euell poked in after Bassu had saved an initial Bradley Wright-Phillips effort.
Watford 2 Coventry 1Watford ended their run of eight games without a win as they defeated Coventry at Vicarage Road.
The Hornets took the lead on seven minutes as Tommy Smith burst down the left and crossed for Nathan Ellington to fire in a crisp left-footed effort.
However, on 59 minutes Coventry were back in the game as lapse defending from Watford - who had drawn seven of their last eight games at kick-off - allowed Leon Best to head in.
The Hornets, though, were back in front with 11 minutes remaining as Coventry goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel misjudged a long ball to allow Smith to slot his side in front.
Pos Team .....P .W .D .L .F .A GD Pts Last 6
1 Bristol City 41 19 13 9 49 47 2 70 6
2 Stoke City 41 18 15 8 63 51 12 69 7
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3 Hull City 41 19 11 11 59 41 18 68 15
4 West Bromwich Albion 40 19 10 11 78 51 27 67 9
5 Watford 40 17 14 9 58 47 11 65 5
6 Wolverhampton Wanderers 40 16 13 11 47 45 2 61 11
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7 Ipswich Town 40 16 12 12 58 49 9 60 9
8 Plymouth Argyle 41 16 11 14 53 44 9 59 7
9 Crystal Palace 41 14 17 10 46 39 7 59 10
10 Burnley 41 15 13 13 55 55 0 58 7
11 Charlton Athletic 41 15 12 14 56 51 5 57 2
12 Cardiff City 40 14 14 12 47 44 3 56 12
13 Sheffield United 40 13 14 13 43 44 -1 53 13
14 Queens Park Rangers 41 13 14 14 56 58 -2 53 9
15 Preston North End 41 15 8 18 43 45 -2 53 16
16 Blackpool 41 11 17 13 54 53 1 50 5
17 Norwich City 41 13 10 18 41 51 -10 49 4
18 Coventry City 41 13 10 18 43 54 -11 49 9
19 Leicester City 41 11 14 16 39 38 1 47 7
20 Sheffield Wednesday 41 12 11 18 43 48 -5 47 8
21 Barnsley 40 11 13 16 43 57 -14 46 5
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22 Southampton 41 11 13 17 49 67 -18 46 6
23 **** United 42 9 12 21 39 62 -23 39 4
24 Colchester United 41 6 15 20 55 76 -21 33 1
Promotion: 1st, 2nd
Promotion play offs: 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th
Relegation: 22nd, 23rd, 24th
Last 6 is the points gained from the last 6 games.
, Southend & Tranmere in the playoff race.
