Birmingham boss Chris Davies is back on the touchline today after watching the 3-0 defeat at Watford from the stands following his third yellow card of the season in the 1-1 draw with Southampton.

He was also sent off against Saints, but that red card is still under investigation by the FA.

Almost a nightmare start for Coventry. They go back to goalkeeper Carl Rushworth from kick-off and he smashes it straight at Blues striker Jay Stansfield.

Luckily for the visitors, it flies out of play on their left.

Image source, PA

It is absolutely freezing, so let's hope these early kick-offs can go some way to warming us all up.

Away we go at St Andrew's and Loftus Road.

A reminder that there's no action in the other scheduled 12:00 GMT match between Sheffield United and Oxford United at Bramall Lane due to a frozen pitch.

BBC Local Radio

Because of broadcasting rights we are unable to bring you audio commentary online for today's matches.

BBC Local Radio will be providing commentary and we will bring you a flavour of the coverage from selected matches to go alongside our live text service.

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Birmingham City boss Chris Davies makes five changes from the side that suffered a 3-0 defeat at Watford on New Year's Day.

There is a debut for new signing Kai Wagner at left-back, while Tommy Doyle, Jay Stansfield, Lewis Koumas and Marvin Ducksch all come back in.

Alfons Sampsted, Willum Thor Willumson and Kyogo Furuhashi all drop to the bench, but Alex Cochrane and Keshi Anderson are not in the squad.

Image source, Opta

Frank Lampard makes four changes from the Coventry side that drew 1-1 at Charlton with Jay Dasilva returning following a three-match suspension.

Jack Rudoni, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Ephron Mason-Clark also come back in.

Joel Latibeaudiere and Haji Wright are among the subs. Kaine Kesler-Hayden does not make the squad. Meanwhile, our thoughts are with Jamie Allen who has not made the trip due to a close family bereavement.

Image source, Opta

QPR make five changes including Ben Hamer replacing the benched Paul Nardi in goal.

Steve Cook, Paul Smyth, Isaac Hayden and Karamoko Dembele will also try to keep warm among the substitutes.

Liam Morrison, Jonathan Varane, Kwame Poku and Koki Saito also start.

There is no Liam Cooper or Svante Inglesson for Sheffield Wednesday while Liam Palmer is on the bench.

Sean Fusire returns from international duty with Zimbabwe and starts, as do Cole McGhee and Jamal Lowe.

Image source, Opta

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The old adage is that form goes out the window in a derby - and West Midlands rivals Birmingham City and Coventry City will certainly be hoping that's the case today.

Blues have slipped to 17th after a seven-game winless streak (D3 L4) - their worst run since March 2024 when they also went seven games without a win on their way to being relegated from the Championship that season.

That being said, Chris Davies' side have still only lost one home game in the league this season, going down 3-2 to Hull City on 18 October (W6 D5).

As for league leaders Coventry, by the very high standards they've set this season, just two wins from their past seven games (D3 L2) is very much a blip.

The Sky Blues still hold a comfortable eight-point lead over Ipswich in second and are nine clear of third-placed Middlesbrough.

Victory today for Frank Lampard's side would certainly ease any fears of a potential collapse in their quest for automatic promotion to the Premier League for the first time since 2001.

Image source, Getty Images

There is not much new year cheer to be had for those travelling down from South Yorkshire today.

But there is hope - hope that a new owner will soon be in place at Sheffield Wednesday, hope they will be able to strengthen their squad this month and hope they can build for what will surely be a promotion tilt from League One next season.

Wednesday fans do not need to be reminded of their league standing but maybe having collected more points on the road gives them something to hold onto as they shiver inside Loftus Road this lunchtime.

For QPR it is the usual story of being consistently inconsistent - one minute they are looking over their shoulders, the next eyeing-up the play-offs - but that is seemingly the life of a Championship club.

Three games without a win has left the Londoners five points off the top-six pace so a win today is imperative, more so when you consider the state of the opposition.

Image source, PA Media/BBC Sport

Here's the state of play in the Championship before today's games.

Coventry have the chance to extend their lead to 11 points at the summit at Birmingham, who are looking to move 10 clear of the bottom three which has been getting just a tad too close for comfort in recent weeks.

QPR could move within two points of the play-offs with victory over bottom side Sheffield Wednesday.

Image source, Getty Images

So with one early match dropping, we now have two games to get us up and running today:

• Birmingham City v Coventry City
• QPR v Sheffield Wednesday
• Sheffield United P-P Oxford United

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An 11am pitch inspection ended the prospect of this one being played.

Portsmouth say frost covers had been on the pitch since Friday but temperatures which dropped below freezing overnight left parts of the surface still frozen.

Referee Leigh Doughty had hoped to have a further inspection at midday but as there was no sign of improvement he made the decision to postpone the match.

It means Portsmouth could finish the day in the relegation zone while Ipswich could drop out of the automatic promotion places.

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Today's Championship fixture between Sheffield United and Oxford United is one of numerous EFL matches postponed because of frozen pitches.

Unsurprisingly, the cold weather has begun to have an impact on the calendar, with a total of nine fixtures and counting being called off in League Two and two further games falling foul of the freezing weather in League One.

In a statement, the Blades said a referee looked at the Bramall Lane pitch before the scheduled 12:00 GMT kick-off and found parts of the playing surface were frozen.

In League One, Doncaster's meeting with Luton and Rotherham v Mansfield were also called off on Sunday.

Take a look at all today's postponements here.

Image source, Getty Images

Have you wrapped up warm? It's cold out there, you know.

So the original plan was for three early 12:00 GMT kick-offs to get a bumper winter's Sunday going in the Championship.

But one of those fixtures has already been impacted by the freezing conditions and has been postponed, so it's just the two games to whet the appetite for a super second tier Sunday.

Kick-off, in what remains of the fixture list in the Championship today, is coming soon.

Will your side be freeze any thoughts of slipping down the table? Or will the hunt for promotion start to thaw? You'll soon find out.