Goals from Sindre Walle Egeli, George Hirst and Ivan Azon saw Town to a 3-0 victory over Championship leaders Coventry City at Portman Road. Keeper Christian Walton had made two vital saves before Walle Egeli put the Blues in front two minutes before the break, Hirst adding the second on the hour and sub Azon making it 3-0 five minutes into injury time.

Town made five changes from the team which began the 1-1 draw at Blackburn on Tuesday, returning to the XI which started the 2-1 defeat at Oxford United eight days ago with Darnell Furlong, Walle Egeli, Marcelino Nunez, Jaden Philogene and Hirst returning to the side.

Ashley Young, Kasey McAteer, Chuba Akpom, Jack Clarke and Azon dropped to the bench alongside Sammie Szmodics, who was making his return following knee surgery with Ben Johnson missing out on a place in the 20-man squad.

Coventry made one enforced change from the team which came from behind to beat Charlton 3-1 at home last weekend with midfielder Victor Torp out despite having travelled.

Kaine Kesler-Hayden came into the side wide on the right in a 4-1-4-1 system with skipper Matt Grimes in a holding role.

Winger Tatsuhiro Sakamoto missed a second game due to a concussion, but forward Haji Wright was back on the bench following a thigh strain.

Former Town defender Luke Woolfenden was also among the subs, along with two keepers, Ben Wilson and Oscar Varney.

The Blues started on the front foot against a Sky Blues side wearing an all luminous salmon away kit but with neither team threatening until the 10th minute when Walle Egeli struck an effort from distance which visiting keeper Carl Rushworth, a player who was interesting the Blues in the summer of 2024, claimed with ease.

On 16, Hirst was booked for standing on the back of Bobby Thomas’s heels, which seemed harsh and rules him out of Wednesday’s home game against Stoke, then within a minute Josh Eccles joined him for kicking the ball away prior to a Town free-kick.

In the 20th minute, the Blues lost the ball on halfway and Eccles was found by a chipped Jack Rudoni pass on the right of the area but his shot was into the side-netting.

The Sky Blues were seeing most of the ball and in the 26th minute should have gone in front. Ephron Mason-Clark, who had been enjoying a lively battle with Furlong not always within the rules of the game, was found in space on the left and crossed to the far post where Kesler-Hayden headed back across goal but well off target.

But the visitors were starting to get up a head of steam and in the 28th minute went close twice.

Furlong did well to read a clever backheeled pass from Thomas but the ball fell to Eccles, who struck a low shot from the edge of the area which Walton did superbly to tip onto his right post.

Coventry kept the ball in the final third and Mason-Clark curled a shot towards goal from the left and Walton pawed over the bar.

In the 33rd minute, Town played their way out from the back, not entirely comfortably, and Nunez threaded Hirst in on goal, only for the linesman, correctly replays confirmed, to raise his flag.

The Coventry players subsequently surrounded referee Paul Tierney calling for a second yellow card which never came, Hirst having continued his run and shot wide.

The Blues had once again been scruffy with their passing, not making the most of opportunities to break forward and putting pressure on themselves as a result.

On 40, Grimes was booked for a late challenge on Walle Egeli not far inside the Town half.

As half-time approached, the Blues began to put the visitors under pressure, winning a free-kick wide on the right, then a corner on the left and another flag-kick on the right. And in the aftermath of the second corner, the Blues took the lead.

Town appeared to have overworked it when Walle Egeli played Philogene’s low ball back in from the left wide to corner-taker Davis on the right, the left-back’s overhit cross reaching Philogene again on the other side of the box.

The former England U21 international cut back to Walle Egeli on the edge of the area and the Norwegian international swept his second goal in two games across Rushworth and into the corner of the net to send Portman Road wild.

The Blues saw out the final minutes with little serious discomfort to go in ahead at the break.

Town had had to surrender more possession to the Sky Blues than has usually been the case this season and the visitors will feel they should have gone ahead in the spell when Kesler-Hayden headed wide when he ought to have scored and Walton made his two saves.

At that point, the Blues had made little headway at the other end, but they put Coventry under pressure via the repeated set pieces and Philogene and Walle Egeli showed composure to set up and then take the chance.

Town began the second half on the front foot, Davis crossing from the left, the ball headed to the edge of the area where Nunez volleyed wide.

Four minutes after the restart, Philogene cut in from the left and teed-up Taylor, who curled a shot towards the top corner which Rushworth plucked out of the air.

On 52, Cedric Kipre bulldozered his way through a number of Coventry players to halfway before playing Hirst in on goal, but the Scotland international’s low shot was saved by Rushworth down to his left having been hit without any real venom.

A minute later, Blues keeper Walton was yellow-carded for claiming the ball outside his area to the right of goal. The Coventry fans called for a red card, rather hopefully given there was little real danger and looked a miscalculation by the Town keeper.

The free-kick was flashed across the Blues area by Eccles but with no one able to get a touch.

In the 56th minute, Walle Egeli was booked for pulling back Jay Dasilva, then within a minute Kipre joined him for kicking the ball away ahead of a Sky Blues’ throw-in in front of the dugouts.

Town had been the better side since the break and on the hour they doubled their lead.

Following a Coventry attack, the Blues broke, Nunez playing in Hirst, who made his run from inside his own half beyond the visitors’ backline and confidently slipped the ball past Rushworth to the keeper’s left and into the net.

The Scotland World Cup hopeful delightedly celebrated his sixth goal of the season in front of the North Stand.

Five minutes after Town had extended their lead, the Sky Blues ought to have pulled one back. Following a free-kick on the right, Kesler-Hayden looped a cross to the far post, Taylor headed away poorly to Mason-Clark, but the former Peterborough United man scuffed wide when he will feel he should have scored.

However, Town quickly regained their composure and control of the game, Walle Egeli battling to win the ball on halfway and playing an overly ambitious pass through for Nunez, before Furlong’s cross from the right was stabbed out towards Walle Egeli but Eccles slid in before the Norwegian could shoot.

Moments later, Philogene shot wide, then Nunez similarly missed the target to the right of Rushworth’s goal before the Blues made their first changes, goalscorers Hirst and Walle Egeli making way along with Taylor. Azon, Clarke and Jens Cajuste took over. Coventry switched Eccles for Jamie Allen.

Three minutes after the changes, Town had Walton to thank for maintaining their clean sheet, the keeper superbly palming Rudoni’s low shot from the edge of the box beyond his far post.

Coventry made two more changes, Rudoni and Kesler-Hayden making way for Wright and Kai Andrews.

But the Blues were presenting the greater threat, Philogene and Davis combining on the left before a ball to Azon was cut out, then Cajuste skipping past his man on the left of the area and along the byline, but his low ball failed to find a teammate.

Within a minute, the Swedish international was causing more problems on the left of the box, getting beyond sub Allen and chipping towards the far post, Rushworth pawing out into the middle of his area but with no Town player positioned to profit.

As the game moved into its final 10 minutes, the Blues, with Kipre particularly dominant in aerially, continued to deal with whatever Coventry sent into the box, while looking to counter-attack. On 84, Philogene broke at pace but the attack broke down.

Furlong was booked soon afterwards for taking too long over a throw on the right, then on 88 Simms struck a hopeful effort from distance which scuffed off Kipre and out for a corner.

As the match moved into its final scheduled minute, Walton confidently claimed a looping header following a free-kick on the right.

Soon after the start of five additional minutes, Szmodics made his return for Nunez.

In the final minute of time added on, the Blues sealed a memorable victory with a third goal.

Clarke brought the ball into the Coventry half before feeding Azon out on the left. The Spaniard brought the ball forward before his cross towards Szmodics was cut out. However, it deflected back to the on-loan Como man, who curled his second goal for the club inside Rushworth’s left post to a huge roar from Portman Road.

Seconds later, the referee’s whistle was the signal for another massive cheer from the Town support after what could prove to be a big, big victory over a side many are already talking about as champions in waiting.

Town had to dig deep at the back with Kipre in particular a towering presence when balls were sent into the area.

Keeper Walton made three vital saves, two of the highest quality, and handled confidently aerially throughout. the now-fit Alex Palmer will have a job on his hands to get back in the side.

At the other end, Walle Egeli has found his shooting boots over the course of this week, while Hirst showed steel to take his second one-on-one having fluffed his first.

Town probably should have made more of their counter-attacking opportunities at 2-0 but Azon’s late third - the eighth goal from a sub in the Championship this season, more than any other club - gave the result further gloss.

The Blues are only the second, after Wrexham, to beat Coventry in the Championship this season and the third to keep a clean sheet against the Sky Blues, who had won their previous five coming into today’s game, the shutout the fifth of the season, four since Walton came into the team.

Town move up to fourth, five points behind Middlesbrough in second and 12 behind the Sky Blues ahead of Stoke’s visit on Wednesday.

Town: Walton, Furlong, O’Shea (c), Kipre, Davis, Matusiwa, Taylor (Cajuste 71), Walle Egeli (Clarke 71), Nunez (Szmodics 91), Philogene, Hirst (Azon 71). Unused: Button, Young, Greaves, McAteer, Akpom.

Coventry: Rushworth, Kesler-Hayden (Andrews 75), Van Ewijk, Thomas, Kitching, Dasilva, Grimes (c), Eccles (Allen 71), Rudoni (Wright 75), Mason-Clark, Simms. Unused: Wilson, Varney, Bidwell, Latibeaudiere, Woolfenden, Brau. Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire). Att: 29,025.

Photo: Matchday Images