Ryan Ledson admitted it was a shock to see Ryan Lowe leave his position at Preston manager.The 26-year-old helped Preston to a 2-0 EFL Cup victory over Sunderland, opening the scoring via a deflection in the 37th minute, and Mads Frokjaer sealed the victory with an excellent 70th-minute solo strike.But the real talking point was Lowe’s exit by “mutual consent”, which was confirme

Ian Evatt backed Bolton’s penalty shootout hero Luke Southwood to push for a more regular starting place after his side’s Carabao Cup victory over Mansfield.The Trotters debutant keeper saved one penalty during the first five regulation kicks before stopping the vital sudden-death effort from Will Swan to send Bolton through 5-4 on penalties, after the match had finished 1-1.“Luk

Shrewsbury head coach Paul Hurst had “mixed emotions” after his side secured their place in the second round of the Carabao Cup with a penalty shoot-out victory over Notts County.The Shrews won 4-3 on spot-kicks after David McGoldrick and Curtis Edwards missed for the visitors.Conor Grant and Sam Austin put County 2-0 up but Josh Kayode’s effort and Jordan Shipley’s late br

Johannes Hoff Thorup was delighted to pick up his first win as Norwich head coach in an eventful 4-3 success over Stevenage in the Carabao Cup – but admitted their defending left something to be desired.Stevenage twice came back to equalise in the first half before Norwich scored two goals in the second to take charge, with the visitors grabbing a third late on.Onel Hernandez led the way wit

Mark Robins paid tribute to nearly 2,500 travelling Coventry fans after his team progressed to the second round of the Carabao Cup with a narrow 1-0 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.Ellis Simms was the match-winner seconds after coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute.The striker latched onto a through ball from former Bristol midfielder Kasey Palmer and buried a low right-footed drive from

Danny Cowley hailed a “brilliant night” for Colchester after they knocked League One Reading out of the Carabao Cup.The U’s won 4-3 on penalties with goalkeeper Matt Macey saving two spot-kicks after the first-round tie had finished 2-2 after 90 minutes.Tom Hopper and Jack Payne had put Colchester ahead in the first half before second-half goals from Charlie Savage and Lewis Wing

Tranmere manager Nigel Adkins was quick to praise his squad players following Rovers’ 3-0 Carabao Cup first-round win over Accrington at Prenton Park.Harvey Saunders was put through by Omari Patrick to fire the home side ahead in the third minute before Josh Williams made it two just before the break courtesy of a wicked deflection.Brad Walker had a 67th-minute penalty well saved by Michael

David Artell was delighted with the character shown by injury-hit Grimsby as they progressed into the Carabao Cup second round with a dramatic 9-8 penalty shoot-out win over Bradford at Blundell Park.The first-round decider went deep with 10 players stepping up for either side after they played out a 1-1 draw in normal time.Grimsby striker Donovan Wilson and Bradford substitute Andy Cook – r

Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield hailed a job well done after his side coasted through to the second round of the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 victory over Northampton.Dan Udoh struck after just eight minutes before an own goal from Luke Mbete secured Wycombe’s victory.“I’m delighted,” said Bloomfield. “Two goals and a clean sheet, we have to be pleased with that.“We held

Philippe Clement claimed Jefte’s dismissal in Rangers 2-0 Champions League qualifying defeat by Dynamo Kyiv was “the worst decision I have seen in more than 30 years in football”.Gers’ new Brazilian signing Jefte, making his first start for the Light Blues and booked in the first half, was sent off by Italian referee Marco Guida in the 51st minute after picking up a second