Five things to look out for in EFL: Steel City struggle & Norwich's new era

Philippe Clement has been tasked with guiding Norwich out of the Championship relegation zone, a challenge increasingly familiar to Barry Bannan and Sheffield Wednesday

Itching for some Championship action after the international break? Us too.

Clubs in the second tier have been busy in their leisure time, with goodbyes and hellos offered in the dugout, while Sheffield's finest have brought in new faces for Steel City derby day at Hillsborough on Sunday.

Change has also been afoot further down the pyramid in League One with a familiar face returning to Plymouth, while in League Two, out-of-form Bristol Rovers encounter an old foe.

Here are five things you should look out for across the English Football League this weekend.

A clash of blunted steel

Patrick Bamford scored 60 goals across his 205 appearances for Leeds United but did not find the net in any of his 18 games last season

Hillsborough will host the first Steel City derby of the season this Sunday but considering both participants currently reside in the bottom three, it is hard to know which way it will fall.

No other Championship club has leaked more goals than Sheffield Wednesday (29). On the other hand, Sheffield United have found the net the fewest number of times (11).

To win, either club must overcome their shortcomings and it seems that they have both looked in the same direction for solutions - north.

Wednesday brought in former Leeds United defender Liam Cooper to bolster their backline for the remainder of the season, while the Blades signed striker Patrick Bamford until January after the 32-year-old departed the Whites in August.

Though perhaps the difference at play could be nothing to do with personnel, but with the energy the fans emit around the stadium.

While the Blades are feeling stuck in the mud, the Owls are sensing the beginnings of the end to their troubles despite being in administration and whether or not they land in League One next season, the atmosphere is a light, celebratory one.

"There's been a big change of energy since the administrator took over," manager Henrik Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"There is freedom again and there is belief again. People are looking forward to the future. You can feel a different energy in the stadium now."

The Owls are yet to win at Hillsborough this season and those first three points on home soil will feel all the more sweeter if they are secured against their great rivals.

Can Clement make the Canaries sing?

Philippe Clement was announced as the new Norwich City boss on Tuesday

If Sheffield is not having a good time of it as of late, Norwich is not faring any better.

The Canaries are winless in their past 11 games, second bottom of the Championship and are yet to claim any points at Carrow Road this season.

Their loss to Leicester City was their seventh at home and fan frustration hit boiling point, chanting for sport director Ben Knapper's exit from the club as they left the ground and even starting an online petition for his removal.

Instead, it was boss Liam Manning who got the chop, leaving Knapper to try to make the right appointment that would relieve the building pressure for his departure by disgruntled fans.

His choice: former Rangers boss Philippe Clement, who will take the reins for the first time when they visit Birmingham City on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

"I'm under no illusions about my situation here, and where we are - we need to arrest the situation quickly and climb up the table and Philippe is exactly the kind of head coach that can help us do that," Knapper told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"Of course, it's a big decision but I think it's a really good outcome to a process and for us to attract a coach of that calibre, of that prominence, of that experience in our situation right now speaks volumes."

In the interim

Tonda Eckert was given his first managerial role as boss of Southampton Under-21s in the summer before making the step up to caretaker for the first team

Norwich haven't been the only club of late to oust an underperformer from their managerial seat.

Southampton performed so well after the sacking of boss Will Still that interim boss Tonda Eckert has been given an extended stay in the hot-seat while the Saints search for a replacement.

Saints won both their two games under the German before the break and will be looking to continue that form in a visit to a tricky Charlton Athletic side on Saturday lunchtime (12:30 GMT).

The Addicks, of course, managed by Nathan Jones, one of six managers who have previously been sat in the same seat as Eckert under Sport Republic's somewhat tumultuous ownership of Southampton.

At the same time, Swansea will be heading to Bristol City after ditching boss Alan Sheehan on 11 November, with Maritimo head coach Vitor Matos the favourite to take over the role.

Though the Swans will be nursing some disappointment after talks with Hammarby boss Kim Hellberg bore no fruit.

Instead the Swede looks like he will be taking the empty managerial seat at Middlesbrough, a side likely still sore after Rob Edwards abandoned their promotion charge for a relegation scrap with Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Boro did overcome their dismay to produce a fine performance against Birmingham City last time out under the guidance of Adi Viveash, and next make the trip to the Kassam to visit an ailing Oxford United side on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Must wins at either end of the League One table

Derek Adams formerly managed Plymouth Argyle for four years between 2015 and 2019

Bradford City had taken League One by surprise with their excellent start to the season but are the cracks beginning to show?

They are winless across their past five league games (D4 L1), have slipped to third and in danger of exiting the play-off spots all together.

They will need to defeat fourth-placed Bolton Wanderers on Saturday (15:00 GMT) to end their dry spell and ensure their survival in the top six, no mean feat given the Trotters are on a three-match winning streak.

Though at the other end of the table, things look just as treacherous.

Plymouth Argyle have lost four matches on the bounce to put them in the basement, now adding former boss Derek Adams to their ranks as their new director of football to try to put out the fire.

Adams secured Argyle a promotion to League One in 2017 and will help provide "a soundboard" to under-pressure boss Tom Cleverley.

"He's had promotions in the lower leagues before and I'd be silly not to reach out for any words of wisdom or how to build a squad that can be competitive at this level and I think they're real key things that we need to be advised by Derek," Cleverley said.

They face 22nd-placed Port Vale on Saturday's early kick-off (12:30 GMT), who themselves are winless in six and desperate to climb out of the bottom four.

The Gas face an old foe to end poor losing run

Steve Cotterill spent three years in charge of Bristol City from December 2013 before his sacking in January 2016

Bristol Rovers have lost six straight League Two games but is there any better way to say farewell to a bad patch with a victory over someone they would dearly love to take down?

Back in 2015, Steve Cotterill led Bristol City to the EFL Trophy and secured promotion to the Championship by winning the League One title, dividing hearts across the city.

While the Cheltenham Town boss may be leading a different kind of Robins now, his legacy at Ashton Gate is naturally not celebrated with the same zeal in north Bristol.

The Gas will make the 40-mile trip to Whaddon Road on Saturday (15:00 GMT) to visit Cotterill under the guidance of Darrell Clarke, a man who knows Cheltenham Town all too well after a seven-month spell at the helm in the 2023-24 season.

But the Robins will have more than grudges to play for. Win this and they escape the bottom two, leapfrogging above Rovers and putting a stop to their own two-game losing run.

For the visitors, their seven-match unbeaten run in August and September is an increasingly faded memory and they need to address a troubling slide that has led to considerable disquiet in the stands, not just with matters on the pitch but also the ownership of the Al Saeed family.

You can follow the entire weekend as it happens here on the BBC Sport website and app, starting with live text coverage of Preston North End v Blackburn Rovers on 21 November from 19:30 GMT.