Norwich off to dream start as they crush Blackburn on opening day of Championship

The Canaries were relegated from the Premier League two months ago after scrapping unsuccessfully with Newcastle and Sunderland over the final few weeks of the season.

But they appear to have found an answer for the dearth of goals which cost them in their last campaign, with Jacob Murphy, Wes Hoolahan and Cameron Jerome all scoring inside the first 25 minutes, and Steven Naismith adding a fourth just before the hour mark.

Anthony Stokes scored a consolation with 20 minutes left, but the dismal result has already made Blackburn boss Owen Coyle favourite to 'win' the sack race.

Nottingham Forest also scored four goals in a 4-3 win over Burton Albion, while Ipswich netted four as they beat Barnsley 4-2, with substitute Grant Ward scoring a second-half hat-trick on his debut.

There were also opening day wins for Reading over Preston (1-0), Bristol City over Wigan (2-1) and Huddersfield over Brentford (2-1).

Derby v Brighton and Birmingham v Cardiff both ended up as goalless draws.

Walter Zenga's Wolverhampton Wanderers recovered from a 2-0 deficit to draw 2-2 at Rotherham United.

Fulham beat Newcastle 1-0 on Friday night as the title favourites turned in a disjointed performance that coach Rafael Benitez described as a "wake-up call".