Five EFL talking points, including a return to winning ways for Sheffield United

The form of Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield and QPR means the Championship play-off scramble is not the free for all it once was, with hopeful outsiders like Sheffield United going into the weekend under severe pressure.

The Blades concluded 2021 with a relative smash-and-grab victory at Fulham, but defeat to Derby followed by a 2-2 draw at Preston - where they could not hold onto a second-half two-goal lead against ten men - saw questions asked of Paul Heckingbottom's side.

They responded emphatically, though, beating Luton 2-0 thanks to stellar showings from wing-back Jayden Bogle, midfielder Oli Norwood and forward Iliman Ndiaye, while Rhian Brewster could have poached a hat-trick.

Lucky to face a Hatters side resting Elijah Adebayo? Definitely. But they'll take a lift where they can get it.

Whereas West Brom were once looking up at Fulham and Bournemouth, they are now glancing below them at the form of the fast-rising play-off contenders.

A casual observer might point out, in their 3-0 victory over Peterborough, that all the goals came in the final 12 minutes of normal time. However, it was not a flattering scoreline: Valerien Ismael's side finished with 27 shots, while Posh produced just the one.

Daryl Dike enjoyed a promising home debut and it is hoped that the physical front-man's injury is not an impactful one. The Orlando City recruit was replaced by a different mould of player in Grady Diangana. The electric winger, who loves to do everything at 100mph, lit up the Championship in 2019 prior to a nasty injury: rediscover that form and he could be an asset to the Baggies as they push for promotion.

A perfectly reasonable observation when Ollie Younger joined Doncaster from Sunderland, would be that if the defender wasn't even good enough to be a squad player for Lee Johnson's promotion chasers then how could he be expected to lift Doncaster from the depths of a relegation scrap.

Perhaps, though, Younger needed the regular starts he could not be guaranteed with Danny Batth and Callum Doyle in situ on Wearside.

Either way, the 22-year-old has made a fantastic start for Gary McSheffrey's side, earning a man-of-the-match award in a battling, 1-0 victory at MK Dons.

The South Yorkshire outfit still have a mountain to climb - they will need approximately 31 points from 19 games to beat the drop - but with more showings like that from Younger, they have a chance.

Fleetwood, Wimbledon, Shrewsbury, Bolton and Lincoln have all picked up recently to differing extents, while fellow new boys Cambridge and Cheltenham are enjoying better seasons than expected.

Morecambe cannot rely on any one of those sides plummeting between now and May, so it is vital that Stephen Robinson's side put together some form of their own.

A sturdy display earnt the Shrimps a point and clean sheet at Wimbledon, prior to a deeply unlucky midweek defeat to Wigan, so the euphoria was understandable when Cole Stockton crashed home the winner against Wycombe.

The Lancashire outfit had fallen behind twice in that game, responding through goals from Anthony O'Connor, Jonah Ayunga and Stockton to win 3-2. Bottle that spirit and Morecambe can beat the drop.

Colchester went into the weekend a club divided, and came out of it united.

Fans have questioned Robbie Cowling's running of the club and those doubts have not changed just because of a 3-0 victory at Salford, but it's hard to underestimate what a difference it makes when fans see a group of players fighting for the shirt.

One or two more performances like that and Brown will be in the conversation to get the gig until the end of the season, possibly beyond.