Sheffield United's Championship run-in schedule almost finalised after EFL decision
Sheffield United’s fixture list for the Championship run-in is on the cusp of being finalised after the English Football League confirmed their final day clash with Derby County at Pride Park will kick off at 12.30pm.
The EFL has revealed the kick-off times for the final round of fixtures of the Championship, League One and League Two campaigns, plus the schedule for the end-of-season play-offs.
They have confirmed, as originally planned, the final day of the Championship season will take place on Saturday, May 2, but all 12 final day fixtures will kick off simultaneously at 12.30pm. The Blades’ trip to Derby was originally due to kick off at 3pm.
The final day fixtures in League One and League Two will kick off slightly later at 3pm, also on May 2. TV selections for the final round of fixtures are yet to be confirmed, but kick-off times will not be changed.
However, broadcast selections up to and including April 19 in the Championship have been confirmed, meaning only the picks for the midweek round over the nights of April 21/22, the penultimate weekend and the final weekend of the season are yet to be made.
But with United’s final day trip to Derby guaranteed to kick off at 12.30pm regardless of whether it is selected for TV or not, only their clashes with Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End at Bramall Lane are at risk of being changed between now and the end of the campaign.
The clash with Blackburn is penciled in for Wednesday, April 22, kicking off at 7.45pm, meaning the only change that could be made is that the kick-off time is pushed back to 8pm if the game is selected as Sky’s featured match that evening.
However, there is still a chance the date of the Preston clash, currently scheduled for Saturday, April 25, could be changed. The penultimate weekend of the season will see title hopefuls Coventry City, who may have sealed promotion by that juncture, take on play-off hopefuls Wrexham while fellow promotion hopefuls Millwall will travel to relegation-threatened Leicester City, meaning those particular fixtures are likely to be far more appealing to occupy a broadcast slot.
United and Preston, barring any drastic changes in their circumstances, are likely to play out a contest that could be considered as a dead rubber clash. Preston are currently 13th in the table on 52 points, four places and two points ahead of the Blades.
Broadcast selections for matches scheduled for the penultimate weekend of the season will be announced three weeks in advance.
None of United’s seven remaining Championship fixtures, at the time of writing, have been selected as featured games to be shown live on either Sky Sports or ITV. However, their Good Friday clash with Swansea City at Bramall Lane, their Easter Monday trip to Bristol City and tussle with Blackburn, if not selected for featured coverage, will be available via the Sky Sports+ service.
As per the EFL’s website, United’s final day trip to Derby will also be available to watch live on Sky Sports+. However, the prospect of Derby still being in play-off contention come the final weekend of the season could see it selected as a featured game the week prior.
United’s last seven Championship fixtures:
- Friday, April 3 - Swansea City (H) 3pm
- Monday, April 6 - Bristol City (A) 3pm
- Saturday, April 11 - Hull City (H) 3pm
- Saturday, April 18 - Watford (A) 3pm
- Wednesday, April 22 - Blackburn Rovers (H) 7.45pm
- Saturday, April 25 - Preston North End (H) 3pm
- Saturday, May 2 - Derby County (A) - 12.30pm