Hull City boss to sit down with out of contract players during break

It was another exciting round of EFL and FA Cup action at the weekend but Championship clubs now have the international break and managers can use the time to look at some early plans ahead of the summer transfer window.

There were defeats for all three local sides in the weekend’s EFL Championship fixtures.

Hull City were beaten 3-1 at home by Luton Town while Barnsley suffered a 2-0 defeat to Sheffield United and Huddersfield Town lost by the same score at home to Bournemouth.

The Hatters win over the Tigers see them jump above the Terriers in the league table with Carlos Corberán’s side dropping down to fourth.

Hull remain 20th in the league table while Barnsley remain in the drop zone and five points off of Reading in 21st with the same amount of games played.

The Championship action is now on hold with the international break taking over and sides will have a week without games to evaluate their season so far and look ahead to the final stretch.

The league action returns on Friday, April 1 with a Yorkshire derby as Huddersfield Town head to Hull City in the first match of the weekend.

Saturday will see a huge match for Barnsley as they host Reading looking to cut the gap on safety to just two points.

A defeat for the Tykes would see them slip eight points behind the Royals with just eight games remaining.

Away from the action on the pitch, here are the transfer stories making the headlines across the EFL Championship on Monday morning:

1. Forest loanee praised by United icon

Roy Keane has hailed Manchester United youngster James Garner for his performance for Nottingham Forest during their defeat to Liverpool (Mirror) | Getty Images