Zak Whitbread and Millwall hopped out of the relegation zone with a win, while Jemal Johnson and MK Dons were forced to settle for a draw after leading by three.

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MILLWALL CLIMBS FROM RELEGATION ZONE
Millwall defeated visiting Southend 2-1 after going down early in the match.

American Zak Whitbread went the distance, and was fouled in the 79th minute by Damian Scannell, who received a red card for the challenge.

Southend went up early in this match when Nicky Bailey's cracking shot from 25 yards out found the net in the ninth minute.

Gary Alexander equalized the game for Millwall in the 41st minute when he headed home Dave Martin's corner.

Whitbread almost scored his fourth goal of the season early in the second half. Martin's corner found the defender's head, but he floated it wide of the goal.

The Lions took the lead in the 54th minute off the left foot of Martin, whose free kick found the bottom corner of the net.

Millwall keeper Rhys Evans made a great reflex save in the 69th minute when Charlie MacDonald's header looked as though it would tie up the game.

With the man advantage, the home side was able to hold on to the lead.

Millwall is now in 20th place and one point ahead of the relegation zone ahead of their next match, on the road against sixth place Tranmere.

Scoring
SOU – Nicky Bailey 7 9'
MW – Gary Alexander 8 41'
MW – Dave Martin 1 54'

MW - Rhys Evans; Marcus Bignot, Zak Whitbread, Paul Robinson, Andy Frampton, Dave Martin (Adrian Forbes 70'), Jay Simpson, Ali Fuseini, Marc Laird, Lewis Grabban (Ahmet Brkovic 46'), Gary Alexander

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MK DONS SQUANDER 3-0 LEAD
MK Dons and Shrewsbury drew 3-3 after the League Two leaders had gone up three after 40 minutes.

American Jemal Johnson had a huge role in making two Dons goals before being subbed out in the 81st minute with his team clinging to a 3-2 lead.

The Dons’ first goal came in the 32nd minute off after Dean Lewington's corner kick from the left side reached Kevin Gallen in the center of the box. His shot was blocked to Mark Wright, who controlled the ball with his chest and drilled the ball through a crowd of defenders from 18 yards out.

The visitors struck again only three minutes later when Lewington fed the ball to Johnson, who ripped a shot off the crossbar. Kevin Gallen reached the rebound and put the ball in the net to put Dons up 2-0.

Wright scored his second goal of the game only five minutes later from another Johnson rebound. The striker fired a shot from 25 meters out that the keeper could only parry away and Wright netted the rebound from eight meters out.

Just before the half, Kelvin Langmead scored for Shrewsbury cut into the Dons lead.

Shrewsbury fans prayed for a second half savior and his name was James Constable. The English striker scored in the 70th minute to bring his team within one, then scored again in the 90th minute to end the game in a draw.

MK Dons are now four points clear at the top of the table before they take on last place Wrexham on Saturday.

Scoring
MKD - Mark Wright 10 32'
MKD - Kevin Gallen 7 35'
MKD - Mark Wright 11 40'
SHR - Kelvin Langmead 1 44'
SHR - James Constable 2 70'
SHR - James Constable 3 90'

MKD - Willy Gueret; Drissa Diallo, Sean O'Hanlon, Danny Swailes, Dean Lewington, Lloyd Dyer (Jude Stirling 71'), Keith Andrews, Alan Navarro, Mark Wright, Kevin Gallen (Sam Baldock 90'), Jemal Johnson (Jordan Hadfield 81')

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ON THE SIDELINE
Sheffield Wednesday's Frank Simek and Charlton Athletics' Cory Gibbs each sat out the 0-0 match between the two clubs injured.

Jay DeMerit also sat out Championship leaders Watford's 1-0 win over Leicester due to injury.