Blackburn Rovers make fresh request involving Southampton & Coventry - EFL to decide | OneFootball

Southampton's progress in this year's FA Cup is causing fixture rescheduling issues in the Championship, and Blackburn Rovers are crying foul over it.

Blackburn Rovers are requesting that the EFL alter a rescheduled fixture which has come about as a result of Southampton's run in the FA Cup.

With five games to play of their Championship season, Blackburn Rovers are edging towards safety. It's been a difficult season at Ewood Park, with manager Valerien Ismael having been sacked and replaced by Michael O'Neill in February, and the team having spent much of the season struggling in or around the division's relegation places.

A recent upturn in form has allowed them to open up a bit of daylight between themselves and the relegation places. Two wins and two draws from their last four games haven't enormously improved their league position - they remain in 19th place in the table - but they have at least allowed a six-point gap to open up between themselves and the relegation places.

But they're not quite safe yet, and with tiredness increasing as the cumulative effects of a long, hard season start to catch up with players, the club are now reportedly unhappy with the rescheduling of a fixture which has come about as a result of Southampton's run to the FA Cup semi-finals.

Blackburn have requested Coventry fixture reschedule as a result of Southampton cup run

Journalist Alan Nixon has reported to his Patreon that Blackburn have requested the EFL to change the date of their upcoming fixture against Coventry City. He confirms that their fixture against Southampton has been brought forward to Tuesday 14th April, when it had originally been scheduled for Saturday 25th.

Nixon reports that the crux of Blackburn's issue with this scheduling is that they are also due to play Coventry at Ewood Park on the Friday 17th April, meaning that they would have to play two extremely testing fixtures within four days of each other.

Nixon reports that Blackburn want the Coventry fixture moved, to either the Saturday or the Sunday of that week, adding that the rescheduling of the Southampton fixture seems to be "set in stone."

The EFL have a lot of competing interests to take into account when it comes to rescheduling fixtures

Rescheduling fixtures at the very end of the season is always going to be a challenge for the EFL. There was a time when it was not common for everybody to end their league season to finish at the same time - in 1972, for example, Derby County found out that they were the champions of England while they were on holiday in Mallorca - but the introduction of play-offs in 1987 has meant that the season has to finish at its scheduled time.

This creates a degree of tension when it comes to rescheduling fixtures, especially towards the end of the season. There aren't many spaces available between now and the end of the season that aren't already occupied, and on top of that, matches have been scheduled for broadcasting. Add this to possible tensions over rest times between matches for players, and it's not difficult to see how there can be issues with juggling all these conflicting needs.

The EFL will need to balance the best interests of all three of the impacted teams. Coventry City are on the precipice of confirming their return to the Premier League following an absence of a quarter of a century, while Blackburn are only a win or two short of confirming their safety for next season.

But Southampton remain in the midst of a battle with Hull City, Wrexham and Derby County for a play-off place, and with their FA Cup run having only added to the physical toll upon their players, so it does make more sense for the Coventry fixture to be moved, if it's possible to do so, although this in turn may inconvenience Coventry fans, who may have made travel arrangements for the Friday night that had been on the timetable.