Five things in the EFL: Unwanted records and derby dates

With all the January transfer window talk, it is sometimes easy to forget that football matches are indeed actually won and lost on that green thing.

The chaotic and unpredictable EFL continues to deliver for better or worse depending on your allegiances.

With West Bromwich Albion on a downward spiral, Liam Manning back in work at Huddersfield and the small matter of the first south coast derby in a league fixture at Fratton Park for more than 14 years, this weekend promises to be no different.

Here are five key things to look out for across the Championship, League One and League Two over the next couple of days.

It has been a very tough start to life in the Hawthorns hotseat for new West Bromwich Albion head coach Eric Ramsay - two games, two defeats.

If there was an air of respectability about the 3-2 loss to Middlesbrough, there certainly was not in the 5-0 thrashing by Norwich on Tuesday night - the club's biggest-ever home defeat outside the top flight.

Now the job for Ramsay in his first away game is to try and get a league point on the road, something West Brom have not managed for 113 days since a 1-0 win at Norwich on 1 October. They face Derby County on Friday night (20:00 GMT).

It has been 10 straight away defeats for the Baggies, who have conceded 20 goals and scored just seven during their worst away league run since 1927.

Albion did end their dismal away run in all competitions with the 2-2 draw at Swansea in the FA Cup third round before winning on penalties earlier this month.

But the last time they lost 11 consecutive away league games came 135 years ago in 1891 - a record they will equal if they suffer defeat at Pride Park.

If you like a bit of needle, look no further than two spicy derbies in the Championship this weekend.

Millwall host south-east London neighbours Charlton Athletic on Saturday (12:30 GMT), while Portsmouth take on Southampton the following day (12:00 GMT) in one of England's most bitter rivalries.

Another added aspect of these two games is that both sets of raucous home supporters at The Den and Fratton Park have been forced to wait a while for this day to come around.

Charlton and Millwall played out a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture at The Valley, but it has been more than five years since the Lions faced the Addicks on home soil - where arguably the atmosphere is more hostile than it is five miles east - in a game that ended 2-1 to Millwall in November 2019.

As for Pompey, not since December 2011 have they been able to give their south coast foes a warm welcome in a league fixture.

The two sides served up a drab goalless draw at St Mary's four months ago, while Saints thrashed Portsmouth 4-0 in the most recent meeting at Fratton Park in the League Cup in September 2019.

But you get the feeling that with Pompey embroiled in a relegation scrap and Southampton picking up just one win in eight games (D3 L4), this might just have more of an edge to it and perhaps the makings of a classic… of sorts.

Within a few weeks of shedding old antlers, stags start to grow new, larger horns. There is a somewhat poetic symmetry with that fact and Mansfield Town's recent revival.

Five weeks ago, Nigel Clough's side were staring down the barrel in the League One relegation zone in 21st after a run of six games without a win, five of which were defeats.

But how quickly things can change.

Since then, the Stags have strung together four wins on the bounce, including an away victory at Bolton and a convincing 3-0 demolition of automatic promotion-chasing Bradford City.

With 13 goals scored in that time and just two conceded, Mansfield are now 10th and within just four points of the play-off places - not to mention they have three games in hand on the Trotters and Huddersfield in fifth and sixth respectively.

"I like what Mansfield are doing," former Peterborough and Hull City striker Aaron McLean told BBC Sport.

"They've got momentum, they've got confidence and in Nigel Clough they've got a brilliant manager.

"They're winning games and getting a good level of consistency. If they can keep doing that then they will put themselves in the play-off race."

Victory at fellow play-off hopefuls Stevenage on Saturday (15:00 GMT) would certainly lay down another marker as Mansfield vie for a place in the second tier for the first time since 1978, and just the second time in their history.

Liam Manning was not out of a job for too long after being sacked by Championship side Norwich City in November following a winless run of 11 games with the Canaries.

Despite that blot on his record, Manning has generally been a trusted pair of hands and guided Bristol City into the Championship play-offs for the first time since 2008 last season.

The 40-year-old also led Oxford into the League One automatic promotion places during the 2023-24 campaign, earning him the job at Ashton Gate, having previously taken MK Dons into the play-offs in 2022.

It is that record which probably persuaded the Huddersfield hierarchy that he is the right man to take them back to the second tier.

The Terriers are sixth in League One, but the expectation within the club is that they should be competing for automatic promotion, and four league games without victory (D2 L2) ultimately cost previous boss Lee Grant his job after just eight months at the helm.

First games do not come too much tougher than the one Manning faces, as Huddersfield welcome high-flying neighbours Bradford (12:30 GMT), who are third in the table and seven points above them.

This could be a pivotal fixture in the promotion and play-off battles.

What else to say about Bromley? The Ravens are six points clear at the summit in League Two, on an eight-game unbeaten run, and have won 11 of their past 13 matches.

The seven consecutive wins they recorded before being held to a 0-0 draw by Chesterfield last time out was their best winning run since October 2021 when they won six in a row.

And to think they were playing National League football two seasons ago.

If anyone is to reel Andy Woodman's side back in, Swindon Town, who they face on Saturday (15:00 GMT), might be one of the best-placed teams to do so.

The Robins are second with a game in hand on Bromley, sitting at the spearhead of a congested chasing pack down to sixth that is separated by just two points.

But it has been a turbulent couple of weeks at the County Ground after Swindon lost 3-2 to Salford City in the league and were then dumped out of the FA Cup in the third round by the Ammies via the same scoreline three days later.

Ian Holloway's Swindon side are also at risk of losing their place in the quarter-finals of the Vertu Trophy after fielding two ineligible players in their 2-1 win over Luton on 13 January.

With that hanging over their heads, there might be no better tonic than getting their automatic promotion bid back on track with a statement win at the league leaders.