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The three main parties will be seeking to boost their campaigns after they all found positives from a fiery leaders' live televised election debate.Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg clashed on Europe, climate, tax, nuclear weapons and sleaze.
BBC political correspondent Norman Smith said all three parties had grounds for satisfaction.
Instant polls suggested the margins between the three contenders were much tighter than in the first debate.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said all three performed well and it proved "we are in a tight three horse race".
Livelier debate
Opinion polls taken immediately after the debate gave conflicting verdicts over whether Mr Cameron or Mr Clegg came out on top.
But BBC polling expert David Cowling said there had been a significant drop in the number of people who thought Mr Clegg won, while Mr Brown had the most improved ratings.
The debate itself was livelier than last week, with flashes of anger from Mr Cameron in particular as he accused Labour of spreading "lies" about Tory policy on benefits for the elderly in election leaflets, telling Mr Brown he should be "ashamed" of them.
At several points, both the Conservative and Labour leaders attempted to emulate Mr Clegg by pointing to the squabbling of the other two.
But they avoided saying "I agree with Nick" in an effort to win the Lib Dem leader over - and at one point Mr Cameron even said "I agree with Gordon" over nuclear weapons.
Closing statements
Mr Brown made a point of attacking Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg equally, rounding off his closing statement by telling his two rivals: "Nick you would leave us weak, David you would leave us isolated in Europe."
HAVE YOUR SAYPippaSend your commentBut the Labour leader's main pitch was to tell voters anything other than a Labour majority risked damaging the economy, telling voters: "Don't do anything that puts this economic recovery at risk."
Mr Cameron said Mr Brown sounded "desperate" and accused him of "trying to frighten people".
In his closing statement, he said Britain needed a "clean break from 13 years of failure".
Mr Clegg, who was the last to deliver a closing statement, sought to strike an optimistic note, saying "people are beginning to hope that we can do something different this time" and "if we do things differently we can be a force for good in the world".
Missile question
Mr Clegg came under attack from his two rivals over his proposal to include Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent in the strategic defence review which all three parties have promised to hold after the election.
The Lib Dem leader cited a group of retired generals who have warned that replacing Trident could take money away from front-line troops and that US President Barack Obama had identified the threats of the future as terrorism and failed states.
But Mr Brown told him: "I have to deal with these issues every day and I say to you, Nick, get real."
Mr Cameron agreed with the Labour leader, arguing "we are safer having an independent nuclear deterrent in an unsafe world ... a proper replacement for Trident."
Afghanistan role
There was also lively debate over immigration policy, with Mr Clegg denying he wanted an "amnesty" for illegal immigrants and facing claims from Mr Cameron that his plan for regional targets did not make sense.
Mr Cameron faced a similar accusation from Mr Brown about his plan for an annual cap on immigration.
Turning to the war in Afghanistan, Mr Clegg said the government had not pursued the right strategy or given the right equipment to British troops.
Mr Brown said British troops were in Afghanistan because there was a "chain of terror" linking al-Qaeda groups across the world to action which could happen in the UK.
Thursday's debate was held at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol, hosted by Sky's political editor Adam Boulton.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.