Another international break, more EFL disruption. England are into the Nations League Finals and not even those pesky Croatians can stop football from coming home now. On the other hand, the EFL didn’t let the Three Lions hog the limelight as League’s One and Two flew the flag.

Here’s the EFL By Numbers with Goodbrand Stats.

Home Is Where Luton Hang Their Hats

The EFL performance of the weekend was definitely at Kenilworth Road, as Luton Town put 5 past Plymouth.

The Hatters were in irresistible form and were fired to a 5-1 victory by James Collins’ 2nd  hat-trick for the club.

Hats off to James, who’s now scored 26 goals in 50 appearances for Nathan Jones’ side.

During Jones’ time in charge, Kenilworth Road has become a feared EFL venue.

They’ve lost just 4 of their last 37 games there and scored an amazing 85 goals in 32.

In terms of their current form, Luton have the best home record in the EFL and are unbeaten in their last 13, winning 4.

Promotion challenge? Hold on to your…. you know.

Red Army Invades Accrington 

Barnsley made it 6 successive wins in all competitions as they beat promotion rivals Accrington 2-0, despite playing 26 minutes with 10-men after Zeki Fryers was sent off.

A record attendance of 4801 saw Accrington lose only their 2nd home game of 2018.

However, the majority of the crowd left the Wham Stadium in high spirits as Kieffer Moore sealed victory in stoppage time in front of around 2400 Barnsley fans.

This was the striker’s 10th goal of the season and in Moore, the Reds have a deadly bagsman at this level.

The striker has scored 22 goals in 38 League One appearances for Barnsley and Rotherham United.

The victory saw Barnsley move up the 3rd in the League One table and to within 4 points of leaders Portsmouth.

Momentum.

Wycombe Prove A Point 

Speaking of momentum, Sunderland’s “Rossolution” hit a bump in the road this weekend as Wycombe battled to a deserved point, in the 1st ever meeting between the two sides.

Jack Ross’ men rescued a 1-1 draw in the 84th minute thanks to Josh Maja’s 11th goal of the season.

Sunderland could have gone top with a win, but this was very much Wycombe’s day.

The Chair Boys denied Sunderland a place at the top and their 9th successive win.

Wanderers’ goal scorer Fred Onyedinma was delighted his team proved themselves against League One’s title favourites, as they continue to defy the bookies this season.

Gareth Ainsworth’s side were one of the favourites to be relegated this season, but are sitting comfortably in 15th place after 18 games.

To put the gulf between these sides into perspective, the attendance at the Stadium of Light on Saturday was 30,727.

Wycombe’s combined home league attendances this season (9 games) is 44,976.

On the pitch? Equals.

Not All Wellens Good For Richie 

There was nothing equal about Swindon’s EFL game with Carlisle this weekend.

In terms of starts, it couldn’t have gone much worse for new Swindon Town manager Richie Wellens.

His new side were trounced 4-0 at home by Carlisle United and slipped to 18th in the League 2 table.

This win was only the Cumbrians’ 2nd win at the County Ground in their last 20 games. It’s also the first time they’ve won back-to-back games since August.

The records don’t end there.

This is the worst defeat suffered by any Robins manager in their opening game since the club joined The EFL in 1920.

Wellens only other job in management saw him suffer relegation with Oldham Athletic, who dropped into League 2 after a staggering 21 seasons in the league above.

The only way is up?

Not So Duff Now 

Another Robins manager who certainly hadn’t hit the ground running at his new club is Cheltenham Town boss Michael Duff.

But that all changed on Saturday.

Duff’s side climbed out of the League 2 relegation zone thanks to a 3-0 win over Notts County at Meadow Lane.

The former defender made 300 appearances for Cheltenham between 1996 and 2004 and they’ve handed him his 1st job in management.

Saturday’s win was Duff’s 1st as a manager after 10 league games in charge.

The Robins have been showing improvement of late, having gone 5 games unbeaten in all competitions.

Town were helped to victory on Saturday thanks to 2 goals from 36-year-old striker Luke Varney.

The forward’s 2nd brace of the season now sees him top the club’s scoring charts with 4.

Robins set to soar?

Lowe’s Makers 

Finally, another club-legend finding his way in EFL management is Bury boss Ryan Lowe. He’s definitely having a much better time of it.

His side climbed to within just 1 point of the play-offs after thrashing Stevenage 4-0 at Gigg Lane.

This was the first time The Shakers have scored 4 or more goals in consecutive EFL matches since August 1985. 

The 1st mobile phone call had just been made and Madonna was no.1 with ‘Into The Groove’.

Looks like Ryan’s boys are getting into theirs.

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