Derby's wing-back had not scored previously but put his chance away as if he does so every week.The second brought even more praise for Sturridge, who dispossessed Gareth Southgate deep in his own half and then, repelling the England defender's attempts to win the ball back, had the vision to see Robin Van der Laan taking up a good position on the right, supplying his colleague with a precision pass.The Derby captain did not waste his opportunity, cutting inside one defender before placing the ball beyond Michael Oakes's reach with a fine left- foot strike.Had Villa made more of their openings, of which Dwight Yorke missed two and Savo Milosevic another, Derby's wings might have been clipped. In truth, however, the result was an entirely just one and substitute Julian Joachim's late reply little more than consolation.To make the day worse for Villa, the Australian goalkeeper Mark Bosnich earned himself a likely fine after his reaction to his manager Brian Little's decision to keep faith with understudy Oakes, despite Bosnich's return to fitness after injury. Little confirmed that Bosnich left the ground without watching the match.. Barnsley are on course for top-division football for the first time in their history after two goals from their full-back Neil Thompson helped them to their best win of the season and tightened their grip on the second automatic promotion place. Impatience and frustration were the potential enemies at Oakwell yesterday after last week's home defeat by Birmingham had sewn the seeds of doubt about Barnsley's ability to make the giant leap into the unknown. Straight from the whistle, they played the constructive, enterprising football that has been their hallmark under Danny Wilson, but when their supporters sang their theme song "It's just like watching Brazil" in the first half-hour it was with a distinctly nervous lilt.It was a mistake by their former player Brendan O'Connell that was indirectly responsible for lifting the tension. His under-hit back-pass let in John Hendrie with the Charlton goalkeeper, Andy Petterson, doing well to block both his efforts and the follow up from Darren Sheridan. From Neil Redfearn's corner, however, the ball bobbled to the feet of the Trinidadian Clint Marcelle, and this time Petterson could do nothing to keep the ball out.Within three minutes, Barnsley had doubled their lead, Hendrie's cross finding the head of Paul Wilkinson and Thompson, a shrewd Wilson signing from Ipswich, ghosting in to volley home.Charlton did not fold at that stage and they would have narrowed the lead but for a fine save by David Watson from Mark Bright immediately after the experienced striker had come on as a substitute."For 30 minutes in the second half we looked as though we might get back into it," said Alan Curbishley, the Charlton manager.

"If we had got a goal back it might have been a different story."Instead, Charlton fell apart in the last 10 minutes, with the Barnsley substitute, Martin Bullock, acting as the catalyst for his side's second burst of scoring.Bullock played the ball through for Thompson to drive in his second with a sweetly struck left-footer, and then it was his pass that enabled Hendrie to fire an even more emphatic shot into the roof of the net.As Charlton's resistance disintegrated both Hendrie and Redfearn had shots tipped on to the bar. Throw Reading's late winner against Wolves into the equation and the afternoon was turning out better than even Barnsley's most devoted followers could have imagined.Wilson, whose own tension showed through in his leaping up and down from his touchline seat, was more relaxed after he had a little time to absorb his side's four-point lead over Wolves with a game in hand."It was a fantastic win for us," he said. "The confidence of the boys from this performance can carry us through the rest of the games.". Wolves are again insisting on making a mess of their attempt to grasp the Holy Grail of the Premiership. So much organisation, so much money, so much desire and yet here they are once more struggling fretfully at the tail-end of the season The lottery known as the play-offs awaits. Just as they seemed to have eked out three precious points at Elm Park yesterday - and it was blood from a stone stuff - they conceded two injury- time goals to grant Reading an unlikely victory.

Having taken the lead 18 minutes from the end, Wolves really had to be sure in their defending It had been a thoroughly inauspicious contest. What it lacked in quality was easily matched by its boredom quotient. Maybe added time should be compulsory in all such encounters. In the 91st minute Darren Caskey stood off the Wolves defence, latched on to a Martin Williams cross and drilled home from 12 yards. Wolves, it seemed, must settle for a point.The clock had gone round to the 97th minute (actually the 101st including an almost equally prolonged first half) when Stuart Lovell's shot from inside the area was blocked. He recovered the ball and his poise to beat Mike Stowell at the second attempt.The crowd, Reading's highest of the season, reacted as though the home side had entered the promotion race rather than seeing off the much duller prospect of entering the relegation fray This is because the fixture is now always imbued with edge. The former Reading manager Mark McGhee left them having apparently agreed to stay Via Leicester, his first stop, he is now with Wolves.

Whether he or his team were intimidated by the reception they received or not they played without much belief. The possession they earned and retained in the opening 30 minutes should have given them the opportunity to stamp their authority on the match. They did not, which was not only an indication of an ill-directed midfield but a sign too that the rigours of the season and the prizes possibly in store are beginning to prey on minds.Reading infused the match with an attractive touch or two early in the second half but they came to nought. Without demonstrating much extra conviction Wolves whose set-piece work was the most clinical aspect of their play, took the lead in the 72nd minute. Darren Ferguson's corner from the left was beautifully accurate, just beyond the near post, though there was a hint of a push as Mark Atkins made the header count.It mattered not.. The embattled Italian champions, Milan, badly need a good result against their city rivals Internazionale tonight. Milan touched a low point in a very disappointing season when they were humiliated 6-1 by the league leaders, Juventus, at the San Siro last Sunday.