It's a glorious sunny evening at the City Ground. Warm and pleasant and the perfect way to kick off the season.

Which is handy because we are under way.

After the 'phoney war' tedium of pre-season friendlies, now it's down to the real deal, the nitty gritty.

No more scouring satellite TV channels for Europa League qualifiers on obscure Eastern European channels for your fix.

Rights issues unfortunately prevent us from bringing you radio commentary here, but you can listen locally to Sunderland v Derby on BBC Newcastle and BBC Radio Derby respectively.

BBC Radio Nottingham and BBC Radio London have full coverage of Nottingham Forest v Millwall.

Live text coverage of course means you can follow the latest right here. And give your thoughts on social media by using #bbcefl

The players are out...

Sunderland fans in decent numbers... Derby have travelled well too.

Not long to go.

Andy Rowley
BBC Radio London

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"Millwall are a club on the rise after two consecutive League One play-off finals, a promotion and an FA Cup quarter-final since the club's record goalscorer Neil Harris took over at the club.

"He is happy with the support he has received this summer in bringing in seven new players and is adamant that opponents will underestimate them at their peril.

"The Lions sent Bournemouth, Watford and Leicester packing from the FA Cup last season so they are not a side to be daunted by reputations."

Colin Fray
BBC Radio Nottingham Sport

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"After a takeover at the top of the club, there’s a more professional structure in place at Nottingham Forest, which will hopefully lead to better results on the pitch.

"Such an upturn might not happen immediately, but with a record number of season ticket sales, and some steady recruitment over the summer, there’s optimism among fans that after five years of things getting worse there’ll finally be an improvement this season.

"Improvement, though, is relative, and a mid-table finish without a relegation battle would be a step in the right direction.

"Given the changes behind the scenes and in the playing personnel, that’s something which looks achievable, with a top-10 finish a decent-looking target for the Reds."

Owen Bradley
BBC Radio Derby Sport

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"If anyone can finally get Derby County out of the Championship, it’s Gary Rowett.

"The Rams boss had a handful of games to assess his squad at the end of last season, so he knows what he is letting himself in for.

"Derby still have bags of quality despite the departures of Tom Ince and Will Hughes. The three arrivals so far, Curtis Davies, Andre Wisdom and Tom Huddlestone, are top-notch signings.

"It will be a shock if they aren’t in the conversation for a play-off place at the end of the season."

Nick Barnes
BBC Newcastle's Sunderland commentator

Image source, Rex Features

"It’s a challenging time for Sunderland, beleaguered by ‘the mistakes of the past and mismanagement’, according to new manager Simon Grayson. He’s not wrong.

"A play-off place is arguably the best Sunderland can aspire to as they look covetously at the spending of the likes of Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and the team they face in their opening match, Derby County.

"Grayson is a manager who oozes experience at this level and his CV exudes the confidence that Sunderland, as all his previous clubs, will be left in a better shape for his hands at the tiller.

"While that may not mean promotion this season he seems the perfect choice to navigate the rebuilding the team is clearly crying out for."

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Millwall have quietly gone about their summer transfer business, while plenty of people have been dismissing their chances of staying up.

Lions don't really do rolling over and having their tummy tickled. Last season's League One play-off winners will relish trying to ruin Forest's big night.

The new signings, while not spectacular, seem sensible and well thought out. Some good young talent and Championship experience to boot. George Saville, James Meredith, Tom Elliott, and Jed Wallace are among the new and returning faces.

Manager Neil Harris knows the spirit and togetherness is worth bundles.

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Forest fans haven't had the best of times recently. There are plenty of scars from a miserable few years and a 19-season absence from the top flight.

Last season's nerve-tingling brush with a return to the third tier of English football got to manager Mark Warburton too.

The final-day escape from relegation from the Championship is the perfect motivation for the new campaign.

"That sensation, we must never feel again," Warburton told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"I have said that before and will say it again - we must always use that feeling as a motivating force to move the club forward."

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There's always one team that emerges from the rabble to make a shock bid for the title or promotion.

The team that fools the pundits and delights the odd fan whose daft tenner bet at the start of the year becomes a small windfall.

We here at BBC Sport want to know who that team might be. The old 'Dark Horse'. That's where you come in.

Let us know your tips, and crucially - why? Use #bbcefl to get in touch.

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Derby saw Tom Ince move to Huddersfield and homegrown gem Will Hughes depart for Watford but with the return of a former favourite - Tom Huddlestone - and Curtis Davies among the new additions to an already well-recruited squad - optimism has been retained.

Rowett was harshly given the punt by Birmingham last season and got his return to management at Pride Park.

He's outlined what is expected from the Rams in 2017-18, and how he's going about achieving it.

"Our target is promotion," Rowett said. "It has to be for a team like Derby County.

"We are trying to create a real humility and togetherness in the group and a real work ethic - and promotion is achievable."

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This season marks 10 years of second-tier football for Derby County, since their last ill-fated spell in the Premier League came to an end in 2006-07.

Since then they've been close, namely the 2014 play-off final when it took a last-minute Bobby Zamora goal to send QPR up instead.

Last year's return of Steve McClaren did not work, but Gary Rowett - another former Ram - brought about an upturn in form at the end of the campaign...

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For fans, the exodus of players has largely been fan favourites such as Jermain Defoe, Fabio Borini and Jordan Pickford.

Coming in? Aiden McGeady from Everton, Bury striker James Vaughan and Bournemouth striker Lewis Grabban are among the newcomers.

Their final preparation for the campaign was a 5-0 home friendly defeat by Celtic, after which midfielder Darron Gibson (pictured above) was filmed criticising his team-mates in a bar, by fans. Hardly ideal.

That naturally has left a bit of cloud hanging over Wearside but a good result tonight will shift that some of that negativity away.

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Nottingham Forest hand full debuts to three of their six summer signings, with winger Barrie McKay, defender Tendayi Darikwa and striker Daryl Murphy all starting.

Millwall have a few new faces too, with Conor McLaughlin and James Meredith both making their first appearances.

Nottingham Forest: Smith, Worrall, Traore, Darikwa, Mancienne (c), Vaughan, Osborn, Clough, Brereton, McKay, Murphy.

Subs: Evtimov, Lichai, Mills, Cohen, Dowell, Cummings, Vellios.

Millwall: Archer, McLaughlin, Meredith, Hutchinson, Williams, Cooper, Saville, O'Brien, Wallace, Gregory, Morison.

Subs: King, Craig, Webster, Thompson, Ferguson, Onyedinma, Elliott.

Image source, Getty Images

There has been plenty of change at Sunderland over the summer months but there hasn't been an awful lot of optimism on Wearside to come with it.

Relegation from the Premier League under David Moyes led to the Scot's departure, and that was expected to bring a fresh start.

To some extent it has, with a pragmatic appointment in Simon Grayson from Preston coming in as the new manager. He's already had a bit of firefighting to do...

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Sunderland and Derby fans might disagree on whether it's a stottie or a cob, whether it's gadgie or duck, and most definitely whether red and white is better than black and white... but they will most certainly agree on the merits of Brian Clough.

Clough rattled in 63 goals in 74 games for the Wearsiders following his move from Middlesbrough, before his career was cut short by injury. He's still revered in the north east almost 13 years after his death.

That disappointment led to an early start in coaching, which brought him to Derby via Hartlepool and great success - culminating in promotion and then the First Division title before he fell out with chairman Sam Longson and resigned to great surprise in 1973.

With Sunderland back in the Championship for the first time in a decade we'd like you to tell us how you think they will fare this season following relegation.

You can find it under the "Vote" tab (mobile/tablet) or on the right side of the page (desktop).

It opens at 19:15 BST and will end at 20:45 BST and we will announce the results in this live text commentary shortly afterwards.

Click here to view BBC Sport's voting terms and conditions.

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Sunderland hand starting debuts to six new signings with a new-look attack of Lewis Grabban and James Vaughan. Darron Gibson's disciplinary incident last week hasn't stopped him being named on the bench by new boss Simon Grayson.

Derby midfielder Tom Huddlestone makes his first appearance for the club since May 2005 after returning to the Rams this summer. He's one of three new signings in the starting XI for Gary Rowett's side.

Sunderland: Steele, Jones, Galloway, Browning, Kone, Cattermole (c), Ndong, Honeyman, McGeady, Vaughan, Grabban.

Subs: Ruiter, O'Shea, Asoro, Gibson, Matthews, Khazri, Gooch.

Derby: Carson, Wisdom, Davies, Keogh, Forsyth, Johnson, Huddlestone, Butterfield, Weimann, Russell, Martin.

Subs: Mitchell, Bryson, Baird, Pearce, Bennett, Vydra, Nugent.

Right, let's get some team news in, starting with our lead game tonight between relegated Sunderland and promotion contenders Derby County.

Forget your ridiculous Neymar transfer fees, the EFL is where it's at tonight.

We're focusing on two big Championship fixtures, with storylines and threads aplenty at all four clubs involved.

Sunderland v Derby, Nottingham Forest v Millwall. Right here.