BRISTOL City stretched their lead at the top of the table with victory against Rochdale.

Aaron Wilbraham headed the only goal of the game, his 15th of the season, to move Steve Cotterill's side eight points clear at the summit.

The experienced striker lost his marker at a Luke Freeman corner to direct a powerful effort into the roof of the net from 10 yards out.

From then on City had to defend solidly against impressive opponents, who would have taken at least a point with better finishing.

MK Dons remain in second place despite a 2-1 defeat at Coventry. The men from Milton Keynes were two goals behind after just 12 minutes and never recovered from their poor start to the match.

Chris Stokes, from Trowbridge, opened the scoring with a header before Dominic Samuel extended the lead. Daniel Powell pulled a goal back in the second half but the Sky Blues held on for victory in Neil MacFarlane's first game as caretaker manager to climb out of the relegation zone.

Preston are level on points with the Dons after winning 4-0 at managerless Oldham.

Paul Huntington and Daniel Johnson struck in the first half before Joe Garner and substitute Jermaine Beckford netted after the break to ensure a miserable start to life after Lee Johnson for the Latics.

Johnson left SportsDirect.com Park to take over at Barnsley and he enjoyed vastly contrasting fortunes as a George Waring goal gave him a 1-0 win at Gillingham in his first game as Tykes boss.

Doncaster climbed back into the play-off places with a 2-0 home win over Colchester thanks to a Enda Stevens goals and a Nathan Tyson penalty. The defeat saw the U's slip back into the relegation zone.

Quickfire goals from Ryan Hedges and Chris Dagnall boosted Leyton Orient's survival chances as they won 2-0 at Walsall.

Yeovil remained bottom of the table after drawing 1-1 at Scunthorpe. Joel Grant put the Glovers ahead but substitute Hakeeb Adelakun equalised for the hosts, after Paddy Madden had missed a penalty against his former club.

Crawley came close to a crucial victory in their battle for survival after Richard Wood headed them in front against Sheffield United, but the promotion chasing Blades levelled through Marc McNulty's penalty with nine minutes remaining.

Notts County continue to slide worryingly towards the drop zone after another defeat. Mark Marshall scored early on for Port Vale but it was enough to beat the Magpies, who have lost six of the last seven matches - including the last three.

Chesterfield halted a four-game losing run with a 3-0 win against fellow play-off hopefuls Fleetwood, who had Antoni Sarcevic sent off. Caolan Lavery, Sam Hird and Sammy Morsy were on target for the Spireites.

A Gaby Zakuani goal and a Michael Bostwick penalty saw Dave Robertson make a winning start as Peterborough caretaker manager as top-seven rivals Bradford were defeated 2-0 at the ABAX Stadium.