With City involved in the FA Cup Sixth Round against Chelsea, Crystal Palace moved above the Sky Blues with a 2-1 win against Preston North End.
Leaders Wolves won 1-0 at Sheffield Wednesday whilst second placed Birmingham City beat Southampton 1-0 at St Andrews.
Jay Tabb was a sub not used for third placed Reading in a 2-2 draw at Plymouth Argyle.
Jay Bothroyd scored for Cardiff, who are fourth in a 3-0 home win over Doncaster with Sheffield United, who drew 0-0 at QPR fifth.
At the bottom, both the bottom two lost. Charlton were beaten 3-2 at home by Watford and Norwich lost 2-0 at Blackpool, who fielded Claus Jorgensen as a 79th minute sub.
Derby beat Bristol City 2-1 and Forest drew 1-1 with Swansea.
In the only Premier League game of the day, Robbie Keane earned a draw for Spurs in a 1-1 draw at Sunderland.
Matt Heath scored on his Brighton debut but the team christened "City Reserves" for the number of former players at the club lost 2-1 at Leyton Orient and are in deep trouble.
Richard Duffy was booked for Millwall in a 2-1 win at Huddersfield whilst Baz Savage scored for Tranmere at Northampton.
In League Two, Paul Furlong scored for Barnet in a 3-1 win over Chester.
Craig Reid scored for Newport County in a 2-1 win over Braintree Town. The goal was his 16th goal for The Exiles.
Locally, Rugby Town beat Tiverton Town 2-0 with goals from Turner and Gearing.
In the Southern League Midland Division. Leaders Leamington beat Bedworth United 4-1. Mark Bellingham hit a hat-trick with Herlihy also scoring for The Brakes. Ashley Pringle scored in the 29th minute for Bedworth.
Second placed Nuneaton Town won 1-0 at Dunstable Town with a 78th minute goal from Foster, whilst Atherstone in third beat AFC Sudbury 2-0 thanks to first half goals from Reece and Amory.
In the Midland Alliance, Coventry Sphinx's score is elsewhere on this site. Racing Club Warwick lost 7-1 at Tipton Town with Chris Morris hitting four. Stratford Town beat Studley 2-0 with a brace from Jozsef Jakab.
Former City youngster Andrew Ducros scored for Barwell in a 4-0 win at Coleshill Town.
In the Midland Combination Premier Division, Coventry Copsewood drew 0-0 with Castle Vale whilse Massey Ferguson lost 3-0 at home to Southam United. Nuneaton Griff were also beaten 2-1 by leaders Loughborough University.
In the Third Division, Coventry Amateurs lost 2-1 at Evesham United A