As the daylight hours get shorter, perhaps so too does the amount of time left in the dugout for some EFL managers.

While never a pleasant topic of discussion, especially with the season only two months young, the ruthless nature of football means pressure is already mounting.

Over the past 48 hours, Crawley Town's Colin Kazim-Richards and Bromley boss Andy Woodman - the third longest-serving manager in the 92 - have exited their clubs.

There are, of course, plenty of teams flying high as we enter the final round of fixtures before the clocks go back.

Who might be hoping they can turn back time by the end of the weekend? Here are some key talking points to look out for in the EFL.

The first quarter of the campaign was not meant to be like this for Norwich City.

After Philippe Clement took over at Carrow Road last November, only four teams picked up more points in the Championship than the Canaries (56) through the remainder of the 2025-26 season.

Their strong form under the Belgian meant Norwich recovered from bottom of the table to finish ninth. Fans understandably had high hopes heading into 2026-27.

But it has started in similarly poor fashion to the last, with a run of five straight league defeats leaving Norwich in 21st on nine points from 11 games.

That is just one point and one place better off than they were at this stage last season under Liam Manning, who was sacked following another four consecutive losses.

"I've got egg on my face because they were my wild promotion pick so I'm as surprised as anyone that they're doing so badly," said former Hull City striker Aaron McLean.

"I thought the job Clement did when he came in last year was incredible and I really fancied them to kick on this season and not only challenge for the play-offs, but challenge for automatic promotion and be right up there.

"They've just been so disappointing and they look void of any confidence at the moment. I don't know where they go from here."

Norwich did suffer a major blow by losing striker Mohamed Toure, who had scored five goals in seven league games, to a shoulder injury which will keep him out for several months.

"It's my task to stay calm in the frustration because if everybody starts to panic, we are not going to have the season we want," Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"There are still 35 games to play."

The next of those for the Canaries is against another side struggling for wins of late as they visit Charlton Athletic on Saturday (12:30 BST).

The Addicks have gone eight matches without victory since winning their opening three (D5 L3), though they are unbeaten at The Valley and have conceded just twice on home soil.

A win and a draw from their past two Championship games might not look like a big deal on paper for Cardiff City.

But when you factor in that the victory was a whopping 5-1 thrashing of Watford and the draw was at promotion favourites Middlesbrough, then there are signs of real hope for the Bluebirds.

Brian Barry-Murphy's side have won two of their past four league encounters - their only two wins of the campaign so far - to move up to 19th and three points clear of danger.

Cardiff will hope to back it up on Saturday with another positive result but they face a very tough test, with in-form Birmingham City the visitors to the Welsh capital (15:00 BST).

Blues have won three in a row and are unbeaten in five (W4 D1) - a run which has helped them rise to fourth in the table, two points off the automatic promotion spots.

Not to mention that Birmingham boss Chris Davies is a former Swansea City coach, so there might be some added spice to this one.

Talking of Sheffield Wednesday…

Early-season positivity after a long-awaited ownership takeover has now started to turn to frustration among some in the stands.

The Owls have dropped from top to seventh in League One after one win from their past five games (D3 L1).

Supporters have been less than convinced with performances and some were even calling for manager Henrik Pedersen to go during Tuesday's 2-0 defeat by the newly-promoted Magpies.

"You might look at the table and say this is harsh," said BBC Radio Sheffield's Rob Staton.

"No, this is just life at Sheffield Wednesday in League One. Just as it was in the past for other Owls managers, or anyone else managing a club of this size in the third tier.

"The odd bad result isn't a surprise when you have to rebuild the whole squad in a summer. But Wednesday simply can't keep playing as poorly as they are."

Up next is a trip to South Yorkshire rivals Doncaster Rovers (15:00 BST), who are 19th and only above the drop zone on goal difference.

All the talk before a ball was kicked was that Bristol Rovers would be right up there challenging for automatic promotion in League Two.

That looked like it would be the case when the Gas reeled off four wins in their opening five games.

At that stage, manager Steve Evans - who took over in December 2025 and saved the club from relegation last season - was on a run of 15 wins from 19 league matches in charge of Rovers.

But they have since plunged down the table to 16th after just one victory in seven, including four straight defeats.

"It's causing a lot sleepless nights," Evans told BBC Radio Bristol - and said he has been having phone conversations with his assistant Paul Raynor at 3am.

"[But] let's not get carried away with stats. We will bounce back for sure," he added.

Rovers will hope they can do just that when they host Swindon Town, managed by Gas legend Ian Holloway, in a West Country derby on Saturday.

The Robins are tied on 15 points with Rovers and one place above their rivals on goal difference only and on Tuesday ended an eight-match winless run, in all competitions, by winning 3-1 at second-placed Barnet - a result nobody saw coming.

BBC Sport will have live text coverage of all the weekend's EFL action, starting with Bolton v Middlesbrough (20:00 BST) on Friday and throughout Saturday's fixtures across the Championship, League One and League Two.