Championship football is almost back, with Millwall and QPR in action this weekend. The Lions will see their playoff credentials tested by table-toppers Sunderland this weekend, while the Hoops face Stoke City as they look to haul themselves off the bottom of the table.
Both sides will hope to get their international players back fit and ready to go after the global window, which ends on Wednesday for most. Here, we round up all the latest news and transfer rumours surrounding the Championship clubs.
Sunderland issues
Millwall’s next opponents, Sunderland, may be the best-looking team in the Championship up to this point, but they will face a number of big challenges at The Den this weekend.
That’s because Jobe Bellinghem, Patrick Roberts and Trai Hume are all sidelined with suspensions. Those are all key starters for the Black Cats, who will require manager Regis Le Bris to get creative to cater for those absences.
Walters sends loan message
Stoke City chief Jon Walters has invited big clubs to send their talented players to the Bet365 Stadium for loan spells. He told Stoke-on-Trent Live: “I hope other teams are looking and thinking, ‘I want to send a player to Stoke because I know what they produce; players are getting minutes, developing and their asset value has gone up.
“We’ll help them, coach them, develop them, and put in the messages that need putting into them. It’s not just me saying that; I see it happening. We’ll do that here. You come, you develop; we invite the loan managers down to come and watch and we’ll tell them what we’re doing and they go into what they want from us.”
Ampadu warning
Leeds United star Ethan Ampadu has warned Championship clubs that the Whites still have another gear to shift into as we approach the festive period. “When you are sitting in third, you can say it’s positive, which has been the case,” Ampadu told the Yorkshire Evening Post.
“But we also know that we have got more to give; we have got more potential to unlock, which I think is very, really exciting for us now. But it’s all good and well talking about it, for us it’s about going out and doing it on the pitch.”
