EFL preview: Promotion, play-offs and shock return

ByKate Holloway

BBC Sport England

We are just days into April, but the first promotion of the season can be secured on Friday as things start to get really serious in the English Football League.

And the EFL offers so many thrills that it has been enough to entice a manager out of retirement to join the fun.

Lincoln City and Roy Hodgson are two key themes of Good Friday's action - but also look out for Middlesbrough and Millwall's automatic promotion showdown, Newport County's perilous League Two status, and a red-hot League One play-off race.

These are the five things to look out for in the EFL on Friday.

Aged 78, Roy Hodgson has returned to management in the hope his experience will add "value and advantage" at his former club Bristol City.

Having started his managerial career in English football with the Robins way back in 1982, Hodgson's first spell was hit by financial turmoil.

The former England boss arrives back in the West Country without any of those concerns, nor the threat of relegation, although equally without much chance of earning promotion either.

Instead, Hodgson's task will be to restore some pride to a deflated Ashton Gate support after a difficult transfer window and an injury crisis led to one win in eight games under former boss Gerhard Struber.

"I've been perfectly happy in my retirement period - a little bit bored from time to time - but a challenge like this was hard to turn down," Hodgson said.

"Plus the fact it is Bristol, which is a lovely city, and I do have fond memories of my time here, despite the fact I shouldn't have fond memories - I should be having nightmares."

Hodgson starts his second tenure as City boss with a trip to Charlton Athletic on Good Friday (15:00 BST) aiming to end a winless run of five matches.

Both Middlesbrough and Millwall will enter their game at the Riverside knowing it could be a deciding factor in the automatic promotion race.

Each side is experiencing a slight wobble; Boro have only taken two points from their past three league games (D2 L1), and the Lions are winless in two (D1 L1).

But with Ipswich Town on an undefeated run, in possession of a game in hand and looming menacingly just beneath the automatic promotion line, neither host nor visitor in Friday's lunchtime encounter (12:30 BST) can afford to lose.

In fact, scratch that. They may not be able to afford a draw either... or else their next meeting could be in May's play-offs.

Lincoln City have not been in the second tier of English football since relegation in 1961 ended nine seasons at that level.

Then, except for one season in non-league in 1987-88, they spent the next 50 years in either the third or fourth tier, including then chairman John Reames putting the Imps up for sale in 1999, saying it was a club in decline.

Plagued by financial issues, the side faltered at rock bottom of the League Two table and eventually fell into non-league for six seasons between 2011 and 2017.

Fast forward to 2026 and the Imps are set to ascend to the Championship with a whole new level of confidence.

After spending four months undefeated to go seven points clear of their title rivals Cardiff City, the side will be the first club in the EFL to earn promotion this season should they defeat AFC Wimbledon on Friday (15:00 BST).

"I'm really proud of the way we've gone about this season; it's one in the eye for the clubs that try and spend their way out of this division," Imps fan Chris Wray told BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

"In the past, we've never really blown teams out of the budget table; we've always built it on hard work, that honesty and that togetherness. This is the most together we've ever seen a Lincoln City team, certainly in my lifetime."

League One's play-off race is immensely competitive this season, and the teams that are vying to book their place are not having much respite as six of the top 10 will play each other to kick off Easter weekend at 15:00 BST.

Third-placed Bolton will try to regain their composure after disappointing draws against Rotherham and Doncaster were followed up with a dismal loss to basement side Port Vale.

They visit a surging Plymouth Argyle but will have to do so without Corey Blackett-Taylor after the winger was ruled out of the remainder of the season with injury.

The Trotters are not the only ones trying to stave off a top-six hopeful, though, as Stockport County visit a Wycombe Wanderers side hoping to do the same.

Huddersfield Town host sixth-placed Reading on Friday (15:00 BST) in the midst of a truly challenging end to the season to try and sneak back into the play-offs.

The Terriers are coming off the back of a 2-2 draw with league leaders Lincoln and a 3-1 loss to table neighbours Plymouth Argyle and still have games against Wycombe, Cardiff City and Bolton to come once the game against the Royals concludes.

They will have to face all of that without boss Liam Manning, who has taken compassionate leave for the remainder of the season.

Newport County are the perennial League Two side.

The Welsh club have been in the fourth division for 13 successive seasons, a longer stay than any other current EFL team in any of the three divisions, but that record seems to be under threat this season - and not in a good way.

Newport are just two points above the relegation line and, while boss Christian Fuchs seems to have stabilised the side somewhat, their upcoming game against fellow strugglers Crawley Town on Friday (15:00 BST) will be a true test of where the club is.

Win, and it will provide a much-needed boost to the side's survival hopes. Lose and things will feel bleak at Rodney Parade regardless of whether they drop into the bottom two once again.

"I think they need three more wins, and it looks like it's going to be a very low points total for survival," former Exiles boss Mike Flynn said.

"If they do stay up, hopefully when they do stay up, they learn from this and we're not in this position for the foreseeable future."