Just eight games survived the weather today in League One and only four in League Two, but first whistles are starting to blow now.

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Perhaps you're clearing out that loft you've been saying you'd tidy for months, or you've taken the dog for a frosty winter walk. Maybe you're just sitting down to a warm cuppa and this live text...

Almost time for games to get under way across the EFL...

Image source, Rex Features

Okay, that might seem a touch harsh for a side that is just one point outside of the automatic promotion places in League Two, but Pete Wild’s side have won just one of their past five, a run which included a 4-1 defeat away at fellow promotion hopefuls Wrexham.

The flip side? That loss in Wales was the only one in the past 17 in the league, so perhaps we are being a bit premature. What’s more, they have scored at least once in their past 12 outings, managing three in the reverse fixture against today’s opponents.

Lee Bell’s Railwaymen are one place and two points worse off than their hosts, and 2024 could not have started better - three wins from three off the back of a winless December has put a bit of daylight between themselves and the teams below.

They ended Mansfield’s unbeaten home record last time out on their travels, and today face the only other side undefeated in front of their home fans. Will lightning strike twice?

The three most recent Football League fixtures between these two have ended with the winning team scoring three, so hopefully there will be plenty of goals today to keep those in attendance warm in the chilly temperatures.

Image source, Rex Features

Well, where do you start with Forest Green after a week like that?

After giving his own players some very public criticism after defeat by Harrogate last Saturday and then being hit with a four-match touchline ban in midweek, Troy Deeney was then shown the door by League Two's bottom club on Thursday.

Chairman Dale Vince cited "poor judgement" from the former Watford and Birmingham City forward as one of the reasons for the parting of ways after three draws and three defeats in his six games in charge.

Deeney’s first game in management was the reverse fixture against Gillingham on 22 December. Six games and less than a month later, there will be another man in the Forest Green dugout this afternoon - goalkeeping coach Dan Connor.

There really is not a lot to shout about in Nailsworth right now. The club are without a win in 11 games and on the lookout for a seventh manager in just under three years.

The positives? Well, if striker Matty Stevens can add to his 10 goals and inspire his side to victory in Kent today, then that would be enough to lift them off the bottom of the division with Sutton not playing.

Gillingham, who have won their past three, could move into the play-off places if they take the three points, but they have failed to score in three of their past six home matches. They also have the fewest draws of any team in the Football League (two), though one of those did come against today’s opponents a few weeks ago.

Image source, Getty Images

It has been 98 days since a side other than Stockport County sat atop the League Two pile. Phil Parkinson’s Wrexham can change that today with the league leaders not in action because of the weather, but they must take all three points to do so. How fitting, too, that they can take that opportunity in Wales.

A first EFL away day in Cymru since 2003 awaits, and the chance to do the double over Newport for the first time since 1970, when the Red Dragons ended up being promoted from the fourth tier. Now there’s a good omen if ever there was one.

County, though, have made Rodney Parade something of a fortress in recent months and have not lost in front of their own fans since October. They also ended Stockport’s excellent 12-match winning run in that time, too.

There is an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Manchester United to look forward to in the coming weeks after their third-round replay win against Eastleigh in midweek, but there is another team in red that need stopping today.

This fixture has not ended in a draw since 1967, so at least that should guarantee a goal or two. That is how this works, right?

Image source, Tim Dellor

Reading's off-field plight was thrust further into the spotlight by the actions of a large group of supporters last Saturday, who entered the pitch in the early stages of their League One match against Port Vale. When appeals for them to leave the field failed, the game was abandoned.

Where are we at now? Well, on Monday the English Football League urged owner Dai Yongge to either "fund the club adequately" or "make immediate arrangements to sell his majority shareholding to appropriate new owners".

Later in the week, Reading chief executive Dayong Pang said the owner is "100% willing" to sell the club and asked for patience from supporters while a deal is finalised.

Today's opponents Wigan have had their fair share of off-field drama in the past few years but seem to have stabilised under new ownership.

However, Shaun Maloney's side have won just once in League One since the end of November and their pre-season points deduction means they are still a little too close for comfort to the division's bottom four.

Image source, PA Media

You have to go all the way back to 7 November to find second-placed Peterborough's most recent defeat in League One.

Darren Ferguson's side are the leading scorers in England's third tier with a tally of 52, and will go in as heavy favourites against a Shrewsbury team that has managed just 17 goals from 27 league games this term.

There were two pitch inspections earlier today to make sure this one could go ahead - and it will.

Image source, Rex Features

Portsmouth were on a four-match winning run when Fleetwood visited Fratton Park on 23 December. Another victory that day would have meant John Mousinho's side were seven points clear on Christmas Day, but they had to settle for a 1-1 draw and things have tailed off badly for the League One leaders since then.

Last Saturday's 3-0 home loss to Leyton Orient was their third defeat in five outings and now they are only four points above sixth-placed Oxford.

Today, Pompey face Fleetwood again but with a different manager in the opposing dugout.

The third tier's bottom club have failed to take any points from their three games since Charlie Adam succeeded Lee Johnson as manager, although it took a last-minute goal to deny them a draw at Cambridge in their most recent outing.

BBC Sport

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You can follow live text commentaries dedicated to today's Premier League and Championship fixtures on the BBC Sport website and app.

Arsenal put their recent run of bad form behind them with a 5-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace in the top flight, while in the second tier Southampton manager Russell Martin enjoyed a victorious return to his former club Swansea.

All of which means THIS is the list of games taking place in England's third and fourth tiers today...

League One

• Bristol Rovers v Blackpool
• Burton v Charlton
• Exeter v Cambridge
• Fleetwood v Portsmouth
• Leyton Orient v Bolton
• Lincoln v Derby
• Peterborough v Shrewsbury

• Wigan v Reading

League Two

• Barrow v Crewe
• Gillingham v Forest Green

• MK Dons v Morecambe
• Newport v Wrexham

Barnsley's trip to Stevenage is one of the games to be postponed because of a frozen pitch, with the final decision announced just after 13:00 GMT - when many travelling supporters had already arrived in Stevenage.

Tykes manager Neill Collins told BBC Radio Sheffield that he was "incredibly frustrated and quite angry" for the fans that had made the journey to Stevenage, saying he felt the pitch was "more than playable" and adding that he believed his team would likely "play on a lot worse" before the end of the season.

There were scheduled to be 22 games taking place across Leagues One and Two today, however, freezing temperatures across England have resulted in 10 of those matches being postponed.

Among them are what would have been a crucial match towards the top of League One between Stevenage and Barnsley, as well as League Two leaders Stockport's planned trip to fellow promotion chasers Notts County.

League One

• Cheltenham P-P Carlisle
• Oxford P-P Northampton
• Port Vale P-P Wycombe
• Stevenage P-P Barnsley

League Two

• AFC Wimbledon P-P Crawley
• Bradford P-P Doncaster
• Harrogate P-P Grimsby
• Notts County P-P Stockport
• Swindon P-P Tranmere
• Walsall P-P Accrington

There's hardly ever a quiet week goes by in the lower levels of the English Football League and the past seven days have been no exception.

Disgruntled Reading supporters made their feelings clear about the club's off-field problems by invading the pitch early in their match against Port Vale, causing it to be abandoned.

Newport beat non-league Eastleigh to set up an FA Cup fourth-round tie with Manchester United.

And there have also been managerial departures at Swindon and Forest Green. Michael Flynn's reign with the Robins came to an end after eight months, while Troy Deeney - a few days after publicly criticising some of his players in a post-match interview - was dismissed from his role in charge of the EFL's bottom club.

So, what awaits us on this freezing cold Saturday in January?