EFL extend permitted substitutes to five per match.
Following consultation with Clubs, the EFL Board has agreed to increase the permitted number of substitutes to five in all Sky Bet EFL fixtures taking place from 12 noon on Friday 20 November for the remainder of the 2020/21 season.
Regulation 33.4 has been amended to permit:
- Championship Clubs to name up to nine substitutes in their matchday squad, with five permitted to take to the pitch in any fixture.
- League One and League Two Clubs can name up to seven substitutes in their match day squad, again with five permitted to take to the pitch.
Town Manager Sam Ricketts is pleased an amendment has been made to the rule and feels it will help prevent teams from suffering further injury blows due to the busy schedule.
On the decision:
"I think this is a common-sense approach. With us playing so many games, players are getting injured. We have players coming back from injuries, like Shaun Whalley and Matt Millar, and they aren't capable of 90 minutes so this means we can take them off and not be hampered if we get other injuries in games.
"This gives us that degree of flexibility. We can get players back in playing without worrying that three of them need to come off because they can't last 90 minutes. This will help with flexibility going into games."
