EFL five things: Lunchtime showdowns and gaffer gambles

"Hold your nerve" is a phrase you may hear coming out of football clubs at this time of year. It makes a change from "trust the process" but they both amount to the the same thing.

As Coventry and Middlesbrough brace themselves for what could be a glorious seven weeks, others are jostling to stay in their slipstream or keep their heads above water.

Nerves broke in League One and League Two this week with Northampton, Tranmere and Walsall hoping a new voice might halt their respective slides.

Here are five things to look out for across Saturday's EFL action.

When Frank Lampard was appointed Coventry City boss in November 2024 there were plenty looking for him to fail - replacing a club legend like Mark Robins was never going to be easy.

Meanwhile, when Tonda Eckert was handed the reins at Southampton last year, initially on an interim basis with Saints only three points clear of the relegation zone, there were not many expecting a promotion push.

But with seven weeks of the regular season remaining here we are with the Sky Blues top and Southampton in the thick of the play-off race.

A fiery pre-Christmas 1-1 draw on the south coast is still relatively fresh in the memory, but the focus for these two when they meet on Saturday (12:30 GMT) is now automatic promotion and a crack at the top six.

Eckert's work was recognised this week with the manager of the month award for February, but he has eyes on a bigger prize, while Coventry will feel vindicated with their choice to replace Robins if they can get over the line.

February may not have ended how they wanted, but anyone doubting Middlesbrough's promotion credentials might want to reconsider.

There were a few dissenters when Boro went for Kim Hellberg to replace Rob Edwards when he departed for Wolves in November.

A man with no experience of managing in England being asked to continue the Teessiders' promotion push? Risky, said some. Not so, said Hellberg, as he promptly opened with four successive wins.

There have been a couple of stumbles, but Middlesbrough remain well placed to return to the top flight and will fancy maintaining their push with Bristol City the visitors on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

The Robins have had their wings clipped, with three successive Championship defeats leaving them seven points adrift of the play-off places.

"'Soft' is the best description of us at the moment. We are not direct enough, we are not aggressive enough, we are not hungry enough to bounce back with real hard duels and aggression," said Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber after a midweek loss at Leicester.

They will need to toughen up fast if they want to take anything from the north east.

Matt Bloomfield's managerial career is not yet four years old and it has certainly been eventful.

The 42-year-old likes a challenge so it should come as no surprise that he took on the task of trying to extend Oxford United's Championship stay into a third season.

Handed his first job at Colchester United in September 2022, he went a long way to helping them retain their EFL status before heading back to his first love, Wycombe, where he had them in the automatic promotion places, but in January 2025 he left to take on the job of trying to keep Luton in the second tier which they just failed to do on the final day of last season.

Sacked by the Hatters in October, another firefighting job at The Kassam Stadium was presented to Bloomfield in January and, while still struggling, they are at least still in with a puncher's chance after a six-game winless run from the end of January and well into February had many pundits writing them off.

They beat Blackburn on Wednesday to make it three wins in a row, and a home match on Saturday against Charlton (12:30 GMT), who possess the third-worst away record in the division, offers Bloomfield the chance to keep Oxford swinging.

When is it too late to make a managerial change?

Well, Northampton felt this week might be their last chance to do something to try to turn the tide which at the moment is sweeping them back to League Two.

Kevin Nolan's departure on Monday came on the back of just one win from 16 league games - they are patient at Sixfields, but even that wears thin when you drop to second from bottom.

"Since Christmas the sequence of performances and results have led us to believe a change is in the best interests of all concerned," said chairman Kelvin Thomas when dispensing with Nolan.

The good news for Northampton fans is they are still only three points from salvation, although that probably says more about the struggles of the sides around them than anything else.

Burton Albion are the visitors on Saturday (15:00 GMT) with the Brewers the right side of the dotted line and five points better off than their opponents.

With a less than favourable run-in this feels like a game the home side have to win, let alone not lose.

Everywhere you look in League Two there are tales to be told this Saturday.

Notts County against Chesterfield and Swindon's meeting with MK Dons are big for the top of the table while Neil Harris will want his third-placed Cambridge United to put one over his former club, Gillingham.

Walsall's latest collapse brought the end of Mat Sadler's tenure this week. They visit Crewe, and Pete Wild is back in business with the job of putting the brakes on Tranmere's slide.

Wild was in the crowd at Prenton Park last weekend to see his former club, Oldham, brush Rovers aside so had a good idea of the task facing him when he replaced Andy Crosby on Tuesday.

No EFL side has lost more games in 2026 than Tranmere. While they may be seven points clear of trouble, the improved form of Harrogate and Newport in particular has concentrated the minds of those in charge, with the relegation zone appearing in the rear-view mirror.

Wild's first game in charge is a trip to Fleetwood Town (15:00 GMT) who sacked him in January and are now on a seven-game unbeaten run.

BBC Sport will have live text coverage of all the weekend's EFL action starting with Wrexham v Swansea City and Colchester United v Crawley Town on Friday.