EFL preview: Time for teams to get moving

Matt Bloomfield's Luton Town have replaced Miron Muslic's Plymouth at the foot of the Championship

In a football world seemingly centred on the importance of staying in the Premier League or getting into it, remaining in the Championship is also a pretty big deal.

While Leeds against Sunderland on Monday has many licking their lips, this week has seen two second-tier strugglers making their move and another sink even lower.

League One leaders Birmingham appear to be disappearing over the hill into the distance, while their Midlands neighbours Walsall are in the pits in need of a tyre change in League Two.

It feels like it's time for teams to get moving - welcome to your weekend EFL preview.

Rams hoping Rovers raid can lift gloom

John Eustace made more than 50 appearances as a player for Derby County

The worst-kept secret in the EFL was finally confirmed on Thursday when John Eustace swapped Blackburn's play-off push for Derby's relegation battle.

After much gnashing of teeth over the reasons for what, from the outside, looks like a strange decision, the narrative quickly moves on to trying to avert a swift return to League One for the Rams.

"The long-term vision of the football club is very exciting - everything about the club is geared for success, and the opportunity to build over a number of years is a really exciting challenge for me," he told BBC Radio Derby.

Coincidentally, Eustace's first engagement on Friday takes him to QPR, where he spent four years as assistant head coach.

"I'm looking forward to taking the group to QPR, and let's see how we get on." He is generally a man of few words, and more than ever, given Derby's position, actions will speak louder than however much or little he has to say.

Pilgrims on a survival journey?

Miron Muslic has won four of his eight games in charge of Plymouth Argyle

You get the feeling if Plymouth Argyle boss Miron Muslic told his players they could walk on water, they would be queuing up down at the Hoe to test his theory.

Such has been the impact of their new head coach, the FA Cup upset of Liverpool was followed by a 5-1 hammering of Millwall in midweek, which lifted them off the bottom of the table and within sight of safety.

It's hard not to be uplifted by the story of a man whose early life was spent as a refugee after having to flee his Bosnian home in 1992.

But, inspiring stories aside, there are football matches to be won to complete the story, and seven points from a possible nine will fill Plymouth with optimism going into a trip to Blackburn Rovers, who, you may have read, have had problems of their own this week.

I say problems, but Rovers brushed off Eustace's exit to win 2-0 at play-off rivals West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday and move up to fifth place.

David Lowe is set to continue in caretaker charge for the game at Ewood Park.

Luton yet to bloom under Matt

Matt Bloomfield has taken two points from his first six games as Luton boss

Each team in the bottom six of the Championship has now changed their manager, but rather than a new boss "bounce", the opposite has happened at Luton.

The Hatters have lost four of Matt Bloomfield's games since he took over last month, and dropped to the foot of the table on Wednesday with their 2-0 defeat by Sunderland.

Not only can they not win, but they also seem to have forgotten the route to goal, with just three scored in Bloomfield's six matches.

"There is a third of the season left, and there is no panic. But we have to be realistic about where we are. But we have to be consistent in our behaviour so the lads can be consistent on the pitch," he told BBC Three Counties Radio.

Luckily for Luton, they are back at home this weekend; unluckily, their visitors are Sheffield United, who will go top if they can collect a fourth successive league win.

Derbies and friends reunited

Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford last conceded a league goal on 21 December

Derbies can often see the form book go out of the window with bragging rights for fans intensifying the atmosphere and throwing up surprise results.

That is not to say a Preston win over Burnley would be a major upset given the home side themselves have only lost one of their past six league outings; it's just that it's Burnley, the team no-one scores against.

An EFL record of 10 successive clean sheets and only nine goals conceded in 32 Championship matches makes them a daunting opponent for anyone, perhaps more so given they are also third and haven't lost in any competition since 3 November.

Two former Manchester United comrades meet on Saturday, but Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley might dispense with the pleasantries given the respective form of their Middlesbrough and Watford sides - both simply need a win.

Boro are looking to end a three-game losing streak but are still just three points outside the top six.

Ever since speculation surrounded Cleverley's position at Watford towards the end of last month, his Hornets players have not been helping the situation with three defeats from four matches, but the fact they are only five points adrift of the play-off perhaps tells us just how good they had been up until the turn of the year.

Calling Coventry City 'Frank Lampard's Coventry City' gets people's backs up (we do read the comments!) - but, and bear with me here, it's kind of difficult to avoid the facts.

Since his appointment at the end of November, the Sky Blues have won eight of their 15 league games, losing only three.

Five wins from their past six Championship games have lifted them to within three points of the play-off spots, and a trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday has the word "pivotal" written all over it, given the Owls are one point and two places above them.

Final tests for Leeds?

Daniel Farke has won 52 of his 90 games as Leeds United boss

If Leeds United are going to miss out on an automatic promotion spot, their rivals need to strike now.

Dates at home to Sunderland on Monday and away at Sheffield United seven days later will have been etched into Daniel Farke's diary for a while - they are his last games this season against any of the top four.

It is five months since Leeds lost a league game at home, their only defeat so far coming against Burnley. It is nearly three months since they were beaten in the Championship, a 1-0 loss at Blackburn.

The only team outside the top six to beat Farke's side this season are Millwall, who also knocked them out of the FA Cup last weekend.

What does all this mean? Well, it shows they do not often make mistakes, and that is what their rivals need.

The trouble for Sunderland is they do make mistakes - not many, but enough: losing at Plymouth and then conceding a last-minute equaliser in the reverse fixture, losing at Watford and Stoke.

All that might not sound like much, but it is why they have to win at Elland Road, something they have not done since 2006.

Blues on the fast track

Jay Stansfield has scored 15 league goals for Birmingham this season

It has taken a while, but Birmingham look to have broken the back of League One - seven points clear at the top and 11 ahead of third place - a return to the Championship seems inevitable.

But - and Blues fans always know there is a but - the next five games will be a huge test with Charlton, Reading, Leyton Orient, Wycombe and Bolton to come in the space of four weeks.

The Addicks' visit on Saturday brings the top two in the form table face-to-face with Nathan Jones' Londoners up to fifth place with one defeat from 13 league games.

Chasing Birmingham are Wycombe Wanderers, who have just carried on as normal following the departure of Matt Bloomfield to Luton.

Mike Dodds takes charge of his first league game for the Chairboys as they head to Crawley.

Barnsley might only be six points adrift of the play-offs and Saturday's opponents Huddersfield, but their Yorkshire derby feels like a last chance to stay in touch with the leading pack, with four defeats and five games without a win sticking a pin in their promotion balloon.

The good news for Oakwell fans is the Terriers themselves are five without a victory and hardly setting things alight.

If Barnsley are in last chance saloon, at the bottom Burton Albion's six-game unbeaten run has given them a chance of the great escape.

The Brewers are four points from safety and only six behind the Bristol Rovers side they visit on Saturday.

Mansfield Town's trip to Blackpool might not hit the headlines this weekend, but you can bet when you have lost six league games in a row, the Stags boss, Nigel Clough, will be giving it his full attention.

Clough has not been helped by the loss of strikers Lee Gregory and Rhys Oates for the rest of the season as he looks to halt their slide.

"We are getting kicked from pillar to post with every single little thing at the moment. That is the way it is going, and we have to cope with it somehow," he told BBC Radio Nottingham.

Wobbly Walsall and buoyant Bantams

Will this be the season Bradford fans finally say goodbye to League Two?

We did not think it at the start of the year, but suddenly there is a bit of jeopardy in the League Two title race.

Walsall might have had the open top-bus and civic hall booked at the start of January, but an awful run of three defeats from five games and only one win in their past six has got the chasing pack interested.

So it is probably not the best time for Chesterfield, fresh from a 5-2 thrashing of Doncaster, to come calling at The Bescot.

"We can see there's a group of people desperate to do well, and they've earned the right to be backed - there will be ups and downs, but the guys are giving everything," Saddlers boss Mat Sadler told BBC Radio WM.

Second-placed Notts County's 1-0 defeat by Port Vale on Thursday means they remain seven points behind the leaders, the same distance as Bradford, who are third.

The Bantams top the form table in League Two, so could this finally be their moment after six years in the fourth tier? They have made a habit of slipping up when not expected to and they visit a Newport side on a four-game winning spurt.

At the bottom, Carlisle have played two and lost two under Mark Hughes - their third manager of a horror season so far.

The Cumbrians are six points adrift and face a Colchester United side going for a fourth successive victory as they mount a late charge for the play-offs.

The second Lancashire derby of the day might be termed a "dogfight".

Morecambe now have the funds to see out the season after more financial troubles, but their EFL place is hanging by a thread with a four-point gap to bridge, and their visitors Accrington Stanley will fancy a win on the coast that will go a long way to securing their status.