Preston North End nemesis makes double Birmingham City addition as West Brom date confirmed

Here are your Championship evening headlines for Wednesday, 20 March.

Gary Rowett brings in Birmingham City duo

The Blues - who host PNE on Monday, April 1 - confirmed the return of Gary Rowett as interim boss, this week. After leaving Millwall in October, Rowett is back at St Andrew's to try and help keep the club in the Championship. Full time manager, Tony Mowbray, is spending time away from Birmingham after requiring medical treatment. And Rowett - who has a remarkably strong record as a manager against Preston - has now added to his backroom team. Ex-Blues defender, Paul Robinson, has joined Rowett along with Dave Carolan. Both worked with Rowett at The Den.

Championship key dates confirmed

The schedule for the end of the season has been confirmed, in the Championship. All final day matches, on May 4, will now kick-off at 12:30pm - Preston North End are in action at West Brom, who will hope to have their play-off place secured by then. As for the play-offs, the first legs will take place on Sunday, May 12, 12:30 (6th vs 3rd) and Monday, May 13, 20:00 (5th vs 4th). Second leg ties will be on Thursday, May 16, 20:00 (3rd vs 6th) and Friday, May 17, 20:00 (4th vs 5th). The final at Wembley is scheduled for Sunday, May 26 (kick-off time TBC).

Preston North End man out of international action

Milutin Osmajic will not feature for Montenegro over the international break - with manager Robert Prosinecki weighing in on the injury he sustained last weekend. PNE's summer signing was forced off, inside 10 minutes, at Plymouth Argyle. He sustained a nasty ankle injury and hobbled off the pitch, after being trodden on. Osmajic will take no part in the friendlies against Belarus and North Macedonia. Montenegro boss, Robert Prosinečki, told Meridian Sport. "Radulović and Osmajić were injured. We continue to follow these players and it is not the end of the world that they will not be with us now... I can say that Miloš Brnović will get calls, and we will announce the second place in the team after today's games."

Regulator will have power to impose new distribution deal

The Football Governance Bill was introduced in Parliament on Tuesday and plans to bring in an independent football regulator will follow. The regulator's three primary objectives will be to improve financial sustainability of football clubs, ensure financial resilience across the top five divisions and safeguard English football's heritage. The regulator will also be 'equipped with backstop powers to impose a ‘new deal’ on financial distributions'. Premier League clubs, since September 2023, have been unable to agree a new funding deal. The news was welcomed by PNE director, Peter Ridsdale - who is a member of the EFL board.

Rotherham United star's relegation clause

The Millers are League One bound, sitting bottom of the Championship table and 19 points adrift of safety. And news has now emerged over one of Rotherham's star players - that being goalkeeper, Viktor Johansson. The highly rated shot-stopper reportedly has a relegation release clause in his contract. The Sweden international signed a two-and-a-half year contract in January 2023, which - as per the report - included the seven-figure fee. Johansson has made 137 appearances for Rotherham, having arrived in 2020.