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Key events
Parachute payments. Discuss.
The Football League’s hope that the new football regulator would intervene in the debate were also dashed when the sport minister, Stephanie Peacock, said in October that the government “absolutely [doesn’t] want [parachute payments] to be abolished”. It is understood that the system would be reviewed only if the regulator could establish a “direct causal link” between those payments and the risk of clubs facing insolvency. In other words, the arrangement is here to stay.
Coventry v Middlesbrough team news
Coventry (4-2-3-1) Wilson; van Ewijk, Thomas, Kitching, Bidwell; Grimes, Sheaf; Sakamoto, Rudoni, Wright; Simms.
Subs: Collins, Binks, Allen, Paterson, Borges Rodrigues, Latibeaudiere, Thomas-Asante, Eccles, Moore.
Middlesbrough (4-2-3-1) Travers; Dijksteel, Fry, Howson, Iling-Junior; Hackney, Morris; Whittaker, Borges, Azaz; Conway.
Subs: Glover, van den Berg, Barlaser, Iheanacho, Burgzorg, Forss, Edmundson, Lenihan, Giles.
Referee Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)
Burnley v Millwall team news
Burnley (4-2-3-1) Trafford; Roberts, Egan-Riley, Esteve, Lucas Pires; Brownhill, Cullen; Edwards, Mejbri, Anthony; Barnes.
Subs: Hladky, Sonne, Worrall, Sarmiento, Redmond, Foster, Ramsey, Laurent, Koleosho.
Millwall (4-2-3-1) Evans; Crama, Tanganga, Cooper, Sturge; De Norre,
Saville; Honeyman, Ivanovic, Azeez; Coburn.
Subs: Przewozny, Wintle, Kelly, Langstaff, Leonard, Emakhu, Cundle, Harding, Matthews.
Referee Andrew Kitchen (Durham)
Derby v Stoke team news
Derby (3-5-2) Vickers; Langas, Phillips, Clarke, Wilson, Armstrong, Adams, Thompson, Forsyth; Yates, Harness.
Subs: Luthra, Barkhuizen, Osborn, Roofe, Mendez-Laing, Goudmijn, Jackson, Blackett-Taylor, Pieters.
Stoke (4-2-3-1) Johansson; Wilmot, Phillips, Gibson, Gooch; Burger, Baker; Lawal, Bae, Al Hamadi; Gallagher.
Subs: Bonham, Pearson, Seko, Moran, Koumas, Manhoef, Fawunmi, Lowe, Griffin.
Referee Oliver Langford (W Midlands)
Plymouth v Leeds team news
Plymouth (3-4-2-1) Hazard; Szucs, Palsson, Taloverov; Edwards, Roberts, Randell, Mumba; Hardie, Bundu; Tijani.
Subs: Grimshaw, Ogbeta, Houghton, Wright, Boateng, Katic, Sorinola, Baidoo, Issaka.
Leeds (4-2-3-1) Darlow; Bogle, Rodon, Ampadu, Byram; Tanaka, Gruev; Gnonto, Aaronson, Solomon, Piroe.
Subs: Meslier, Schmidt, Wober, Guilavogui, Rothwell, Ramazani, Gray, Fernandez, Bamford.
Referee Jeremy Simpson (Lancashire)
Portsmouth v Hull team news
Portsmouth (4-2-3-1) Killip; Devlin, Shaughnessy, Atkinson, Ogilvie; Potts, Lang; Blair, Pack, Murphy; Bishop.
Subs: Schmid, Poole, Bramall, Dozzell, Hayden, Gordon, Ritchie, Saydee, O’Mahony.
Hull (4-2-3-1) Pandur; Lewie Coyle, Egan, Hughes, McLoughlin; Crooks, Puerta; Kamara, Gelhardt, Joseph; Joao Pedro.
Subs: Lo-Tutala, Jones, Lincoln, Burns, Alzate, Drameh, Amrabat, Palmer, Burstow.
Referee John Busby (Oxfordshire)
Bristol City v Preston North End team news
Bristol City (3-4-2-1) O’Leary; Tanner, Vyner, Dickie; Hirakawa, Williams, Knight, McCrorie; Twine, Bird; Wells.
Subs: Bajic, Roberts, Morrison, McGuane, Earthy, Bell, Mehmeti, Armstrong.
Preston North End (3-1-4-2) Cornell; Storey, Lindsay, Gibson; Whiteman; Kesler-Hayden, Ledson, Brady, Hughes; Osmajic, Jakobsen.
Subs: Stowell, Porteous, Bauer, Meghoma, Thordarson, Greenwood, Evans, Mawene.
Referee James Linington (Isle of Wight)
Sheff Utd v Blackburn team news
Sheff Utd (possible 4-2-3-1) Adam Davies, Gilchrist, Ahmedhodzic, Holding, McCallum; Vinicius Souza, Peck; Brooks, O’Hare, Brooks; Cannon.
Subs: Faxon, Brewster, Moore, Burrows, Robinson, Tom Davies, Campbell, Seriki, One.
Blackburn (4-2-3-1) Toth; Brittain, Hyam, Batth, Yuri Ribeiro; Tronstad, Travis; Dolan, Cantwell, Hedges; Ohashi.
Subs: Pears, Sanderson, Carter, Pickering, Forshaw, Kargbo, Woodrow, Dennis, Gueye.
Referee Farai Hallam (Surrey)
Relegation permutations
Hull start in 22nd place, one point adrift of Luton, Preston and Derby, and two behind Stoke. Derby play Luton, which adds to the intrigue and means Hull will definitely stay up if they win at Portsmouth.
West Brom v Luton team news
West Brom (4-2-3-1) Griffiths; Furlong, Bartley, Heggem, Styles; Diakite, Mowatt; Fellows, Price, Ahearne-Grant; Dike.
Subs: Wildsmith, Ajayi, Molumby, Whitwell, Johnston, Diangana, Lankshear, Armstrong, Cole.
Luton (3-4-3) Kaminski; Makosso, McGuinness, Mengi; Jones, Clark, Walsh, Bell; Alli, Morris, Aasgaard.
Subs: Krul, Andersen, Naismith, Chong, Burke, Dabo, Baptiste, Nelson, Nordas.
Referee Darren Bond (Lancashire)
Playoff permutations
In short, all five teams in contention need to win to be guaranteed a playoff place. But a draw or even a defeat could be enough for some teams. The fact two of the contenders have extremely tough games – Millwall are at Burnley, Blackburn at Sheff Utd – means even ninth-placed Middlesbrough have a realistic chance of qualifying if they win at Coventry.
Bristol City are in pole position, aka fifth, and will be guaranteed a playoff semi-final against Sunderland if they win. They could theoretically lose and still make the cut.
As I type, Ben Fisher is doing an EFL Q&A over on our matchday live blog. Pop along if you’d like to ask him any questions.
Mind the trapdoor
Today’s fixtures
The ones in bold are our featured games.
Preamble
Twelve out of 24 ain’t bad. That’s how many teams have something significant to play for on the last day of the regular Championship season. All 12 games kick off at 12.30pm, and we’ll be following all the action here. Before we look at the fixtures, let’s see what’s at stake.
Title Leeds and Burnley are aiming to become champions.
Playoffs Two of Bristol City, Coventry, Millwall, Blackburn and Middlesbrough will join Sheffield United and Sunderland in the playoffs.
Relegation One of Hull City, Luton Town, Preston North End, Derby County and Stoke City will join Cardiff and Plymouth in League One next season.
Look, one way or another, it’s going to be dramatic.
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