EFL five things to watch: Bosses in crisis and a Bristolian reunion

Only two more matches until Christmas arrives but will our English Football League sides be ruled naughty or nice?

Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes, Portsmouth’s John Mousinho and Ryan Mason of West Bromwich Albion will all be hoping to reignite a little faith in their managerial prowess before the Christmas puddings hit the table.

While over in League Two, Swindon Town manager Ian Holloway is planning on playing Krampus by giving his old team Bristol Rovers nightmares when they make the short trip along the M4.

Neither Leicester City nor Ipswich Town could say they have thrived on their return to the Championship – but only one is on the rise.

It has taken some time but the Tractor Boys look like they are finally motoring, rising to fourth in the table with the joint-second highest goal tally (34) and just one defeat across their past 10 matches (W6 D3).

On the other hand, it’s been a while since the King Power has felt so powerless.

The Foxes have only won three of their nine home league games this season, with just one of those coming within their past seven games on their own soil.

With a potential points deductions on the horizon, Leicester are running out of time to live up to their great expectations.

If you come across a Portsmouth fan on your travels, be warned. They may be looking fairly glum.

Defenders Regan Poole and Josh Knight are the latest to join the injury list and given the side’s dire performances of late, they are struggling to fill the vacancies left by important absentees.

Squad depth has cost them but what their loyal followers will be more worried about is that they don’t seem to be picking up points when it really counts.

A 1-0 loss to fellow strugglers Swansea on Tuesday, with a goal conceded in the 78th minute, has put them two points adrift of safety and, without much time to ponder over it, they host 20th placed Blackburn Rovers on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Lancashire side have drawn their past three league games while Portsmouth have lost three on the bounce.

However, Pompey boss John Mousinho still thinks there are positives to take to from their latest disappointing outing.

“There’s large parts of that performance that were good. If we had not conceded, we would be sitting here with a very different tone,” Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent after the loss to the Swans.

West Bromwich Albion put up a good fight to come from 3-0 down at half-time to Southampton on Tuesday to end the match just one goal short of securing a point… but it’s not quite enough.

Even with striker Aune Heggebo finally firing, Albion appear to still be missing the mark.

The Norwegian has scored six across their past six games after finding the net just once in their previous 14. But is it winning them games? Of those six, they’ve won just two and both to relegation threatened sides Oxford United and Swansea City.

What can boss Ryan Mason do to turn the tide? Maybe he could look to visiting Blades boss Chris Wilder for inspiration before their game on Friday (20:00).

Wilder has managed to get his Sheffield United side scoring after a poor start, with 14 goals in their past five matches, compared to 11 from the previous 15 games.

The difference between the two sides is that the Blades are winning, claiming victory in four of those five games in a six-match undefeated streak to see them climb up from the bottom three to just two points behind the Baggies.

A seemingly impossible task lies ahead for Stockport, who have the unenviable task of attempting to be the first side to serve visitors Stevenage back-to-back losses this season when they host the sixth-placed team on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

It took 441 minutes for a side to score against the Boro until League One leaders Cardiff City finally found the back of the Stevenage net in the 85th minute last time out.

Stevenage’s defence is the best in the English Football League, conceding just 12 goals across their 17 games, while Stockport have scored just three goals in the third tier since the start of November.

Two of those goals did come in their win over Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday though and with just two points separating them from the top two, the Hatters will be up for the challenge.

“We’ve got ourselves in a position that when we lose football matches, it becomes a bit of a surprise and a panic,” Stockport boss Dave Challinor told BBC Radio Manchester following the 2-0 victory over Rovers.

Bristol Rovers are on a nine-game losing streak in League Two but somehow, miraculously, remain outside the bottom two by a single point.

Boss Darrell Clarke doesn’t appear to have the answers though and even starting with five defenders on the pitch he couldn’t prevent a 4-0 thrashing from Barnet on Tuesday evening.

Clarke was very honest in his post-match assessment – calling the performance “diabolical” and offering supporters an apology as he vowed to fight on.

It feels like it couldn’t get much worse, could it?

Perhaps. They next face high-flying West Country rivals Swindon Town, thriving under the guidance of someone the Gas know very well.

Robins manager Ian Holloway began his footballing career in Bristol, making 113 appearance over various spells with Rovers before embarking on his long managerial journey with the side in 1996 as a player-manager.