Jose Riga earned his first win since returning to Charlton Athletic as they routed fellow Championship strugglers Rotherham United 4-1 at the New York Stadium on Saturday.
Charlton had failed to win their last 11 league matches, a run that prompted the club's hierarchy to re-appoint Riga this month.
Simon Makienok settled any visiting nerves with a fourth-minute opener, and although Chris Burke's first Rotherham goal levelled proceedings, Igor Vetokele restored Charlton's lead shortly before the break.
Makieno's second stretched Charlton's lead and luck was with the visitors when Rotherham's Jonson Clarke-Harris blazed a 74th-minute penalty high into the stands.
Charlton made Rotherham pay as Ademola Lookman completed the rout to earn Charlton a first win since November, leaving them a point adrift of safety.
Peter Whittingham scored twice as Cardiff City earned a 3-2 victory at Huddersfield Town to move within three points of the play-offs, while in the Championship's other match Birmingham City drew 0-0 at lowly Bristol City but still moved back into the top six.
In League One, leaders Burton Albion lost for the second time in three games as Rochdale ran out 2-1 winners at Spotland.
Callum Camps and Ian Henderson were on target for the hosts and, although Lucas Akins ensured a nervy ending by halving the deficit in the 78th minute, Rochdale hung on.
Gillingham failed to move level on points at the top, though, as they slipped to a 1-0 win at Blackpool, who extended their unbeaten run to four matches.
Wigan Athletic subsequently moved to within two points of automatic promotion with a comfortable 3-0 win over Port Vale at the DW Stadium.
Plymouth Argyle failed to score in a home league match for the first time this season as they lost 1-0 to Wycombe Wanderers and spurned the chance to leapfrog Northampton Town at the top of League Two.
Gozie Ugwu's strike secured the points for Wycombe, who were forced to play 46-year-old coach Barry Richardson for 75 minutes of the match after Alex Lynch was forced off at Home Park - marking his first league appearance since 2005.
Jack Compton notched a hat-trick to fire Yeovil Town to a 3-2 win against AFC Wimbledon to pull his team three points clear of the relegation zone.
Daniel Galbraith scored a dramatic 93rd-minute winner to secure a vital 2-1 victory for bottom-of-the-table York City over Stevenage at Bootham Crescent.
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