Wolverhampton Wanderers have moved to within two points of Brentford at the top of League One with a comfortable 2-0 win over 10-man Bradford City at Molineux.
Nathan Doyle's second yellow card on 28 minutes handed Wolves the impetus in their bid for victory, with Kevin McDonald firing home the opening goal three minutes into first-half stoppage time.
Nouha Dicko kept up his fine run of form by doubling his team's advantage in the second half as Kenny Jackett's men close in on the Bees, who were held to a 1-1 draw away to Shrewsbury Town.
Mark Warburton's side had looked set to claim all three points from their visit to Shropshire courtesy of Marcello Trotta's 68th-minute strike.
However, Tom Eaves struck in the dying stages of the encounter to snatch a point for Salop and reduce the Londoners' lead at the top of the standings in the process.
Elsewhere, Leyton Orient slipped outside the automatic promotion places after a last-gasp Alex Revell strike secured a 2-1 win for Rotherham United at the New York Stadium
Moses Odubajo had cancelled out Wes Thomas's 10th-minute header in the final quarter, but Revell - who enjoyed a year-long spell at Brisbane Road - came back to haunt his former club by smashing home from 30 yards to shift Russell Slade's men out of the top two.
Meanwhile, Preston North End consolidated their position in the playoff places with a routine 2-0 win over third-from-bottom Notts County at Deepdale.
Simon Grayson's charges had to be patient, though, with 65 minutes elapsing before the Lilywhites opened the scoring through Craig Davies.
Preston secured the points six minutes later courtesy of a Joe Garner penalty as the hosts remain fourth in the standings, six points clear of seventh-placed Peterborough United, whose clash with Walsall was postponed.
Results in full: Bristol City 2-1 Carlisle United, Crewe Alexandra 3-0 Sheffield United, Gillingham 3-2 Port Vale, MK Dons 0-1 Port Vale, Preston North End 2-0 Notts County, Rotherham United 2-1 Leyton Orient, Shrewsbury Town 1-1 Brentford, Swindon Town 0-1 Oldham Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Bradford City
Shane Callaghan
