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The situation is already dire for Preston North End fans.

Picking up just five points from their first 12 league games of the season, the Lilywhites are six points adrift of Championship safety as they head to the Potteries to take on Stoke City in a lunchtime kick-off.

Graham Alexander's side were denied just their second league win of the campaign last week when Aune Heggebo struck late on in the 1-1 draw at home with West Bromwich Albion which felt like a big opportunity for three points missed.

Stoke's season has started brightly but a drab 0-0 draw with Bristol City in torrid conditions last Saturday saw them drop out of the play-off places on goal difference.

Mark Robins' side will be looking to get back to winning ways having won six of their last nine league games (D2 L1), as many victories as they managed across their previous 32 Championship matches combined.

The pressure was beginning to build at Carrow Road with Norwich City's start to the season mirroring last year's horror show which ultimately cost Liam Manning his job and led to Philippe Clement's rescue act.

Last weekend's 3-1 win at Charlton may just have steadied the nerves in Norfolk as we edge towards the Belgian's one-year anniversary, while today's meeting with Watford will be his 50th in charge.

"There's a really, really good environment here and I would like to put a zero behind that 50 but it's not about me, it's about the club and where we want to get it," Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk this week.

Watford have been walking a tightrope for much of the season and a 2-0 win over Charlton (you could forgive Addicks fans for seeing a pattern here) took the heat off boss Alessio Dionisi a fortnight ago but the headlines seem to never be far away from the Hornets.

A two-night stay at a hotel stirred the pot in the media with The Sun reporting , externalplayers were "livid" after being "forced" to spend two nights at a facility near the Championship club's training ground.

"We went to a nice hotel. After training, we were allowed to go home, see our families and stuff, and then we reported for dinner, where we were together with the team, having good food, bonding," said midfielder Hector Kyprianou in response.

"We have a lot of new players still to integrate into the team, so we were doing things like that."

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It's been a while since Lincoln City beat Birmingham City. Well, 115 years and five months to be exact.

In fairness, these two sides have been very infrequent opponents over the years but that's still a long time between drinks.

Lincoln claimed their first home win of the season last time out with a 4-1 thumping of dismal Burnley in what proved to be Nicky Hayen's last game in charge of the Clarets.

Play-off chasing Birmingham will be looking to get back on track after a 1-0 reverse at Cardiff last week.

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There is a lot to keep across in the EFL today.

We have picked out five things you may want to keep an eye on alongside the fortunes of your own team.

We have three games to get us going in the Championship this lunchtime.

Image source, BBC Sport

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Good afternoon and happy Halloween!

We've got a bumper card for you in the Championship today with 11 matches.

There should be plenty of thrillers, a few shocks and fans of teams struggling at the wrong end will hope today's result is more of a treat than a trick.

Onwards!