EFL clubs allowed five substitutes for rest of 2020-21 season

Substitutes sitting in the standsRex Features

League One and League Two clubs will only be allowed to name seven substitutes in matchday squads, compared with nine for Championship sides

English Football League clubs will be allowed to use five substitutes per game for the rest of the season.

The EFL board has agreed to increase the number from three, following consultation with the 72 teams.

Friday's Championship fixture between Coventry and Birmingham will be the first match under the new rules.

Second-tier clubs can name up to nine substitutes in matchday squads, while League One and League Two clubs will be allowed seven.

In August, Premier League clubs voted to return to three changes per game, while Scottish Premiership clubs voted in July to continue with five substitutions when their 2020-21 season started.

There have since been calls, led by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, to make the alteration in the English top flight too.

But Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said last week there were no plans to change.

The issue would need to be raised before a Premier League shareholders meeting, then voted upon by clubs. And, as things stand, there is no meeting scheduled.

Teams were first given "temporary dispensation" to make five substitutions per match by Fifa in April following the Covid-19 outbreak.

The world governing body then chose, before the end of the delayed 2019-20 season, to extend the use of the rule - but said it was up to individual competitions whether it was implemented.

This latest EFL rule change does not include the Carabao Cup or Papa John's Trophy.