Coventry City extended their lead at the Championship summit to eight points as Ephron Mason-Clark's first-half strike was enough to seal a 1-0 win at home to Swansea City. 

With second-placed Middlesbrough held to a goalless draw by Blackburn Rovers, Frank Lampard's team took full advantage to surpass the 50-point mark in the second tier. 

After a slow start, the Sky Blues found their groove as Liam Kitching stung the palms of Lawrence Vigouroux, with the Swansea goalkeeper making a fine stop soon after. 

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto stood up a cross to the back post for Ellis Simms to head into the ground, but Vigouroux was on hand to claw the ball off the line and away from danger.

However, Swansea's resolve was broken a minute before half-time when Mason-Clark rifled the ball into the roof of the net following a long throw-in from Milan van Ewijk. 

Coventry continued to dominate after the break as Mason-Clark saw a header saved by Vigouroux before Liam Cullen fired a huge chance over the crossbar in the 70th minute.

Lampard's side were forced to navigate a nervy final few minutes as Swansea pushed to snatch a late equaliser, but they were able to hold on for their 15th win of the season.

Elsewhere in the second tier, Oxford United began life without Gary Rowett by beating Southampton 2-1, with Stanley Mills netting the winning goal in the 89th minute. 

Rowett was relieved of his duties earlier this week following a run of one league win in their last nine matches, leaving Oxford 22nd in the standings and two points from safety. 

But the hosts made a promising start when Tyler Goodrham's stunner put them ahead, only for Taylor Harwood-Bellis' 29th-minute header to level things up shortly after. 

Interim Oxford boss Craig Short looked set to take a point from his first game in charge until one minute from time, when Mills found the bottom-right corner from inside the box.

At King Power Stadium, Watford came from a goal down to beat Leicester City 2-1, a result that saw the Hornets move to within a point of sixth-placed Bristol City in the table. 

Jordan James had opened the scoring with just seven minutes on the clock before Othmane Maamma levelled the game with a sensational finish on the stroke of half-time. 

Watford completed the turnaround through Mattie Pollock just before the hour, with Leicester unable to find an equaliser, subsequently dropping to 13th in the standings. 

The Boxing Day action started with a bang at St. Andrew's as Birmingham City and Derby County played out a 1-1 draw in a game that saw both teams reduced to 10 men. 

Patrick Agyemang opened the scoring for the visitors in the 27th minute before Joe Ward was sent off after a trip on Patrick Roberts, having been booked 10 minutes earlier. 

Birmingham levelled in the 64th minute through Jack Robinson before captain Christoph Klarer was dismissed in stoppage time for a second bookable offence. 

The Blues could have won it in second-half stoppage time, though, but Robinson's header from a teasing cross into the area cannoned against the crossbar and then cleared away. 

Hull City, meanwhile, dropped further back away from the automatic promotion spots after drawing 2-2 with bottom club Sheffield Wednesday, but did come from behind twice in the game.

Svante Ingelsson and Bailey Cadamarteri had put Wednesday ahead in either half, only to see their respective strikes cancelled out by Mohamed Belloumi and Matt Crooks. 

Data Debrief: Are Coventry already halfway to the Premier League?

After being held to a draw with Southampton before Christmas, Coventry were aiming to bounce back on Boxing Day, and they were able to land a knockout blow that has now put them 13 points clear of third-placed Ipswich Town in the table. 

Indeed, the Sky Blues are just the second team with 50+ points won (51) and 50+ goals scored (54) at the halfway stage of a Championship season (23rd match of 46 since 2004-05), along with Wolves in 2008-09.

They were made to work for their win, though, having registered an expected goals (xG) total of 1.02 from their 16 shots to Swansea's 1.22 from five fewer attempts, but they held on to keep their Premier League dream alive and extend their fine form at The Coventry Building Society Arena. 

Coventry have now won their last eight home league matches – they have not had a longer home winning run since between October 1959 and February 1960 (nine in a row).