Middlesbrough youngster gets England call-up after starring in Manchester United draw plus Derby County brace for another points deduction from the EFL

The break gives Boro boss Neil Warnock time to work his players on the training ground ahead of a crucial run of games against sides below them in the league table.

But here, we round-up some of the things that have been happening from the Riverside and around the Championship today.

Middlesbrough youngster gets call-up

Middlesbrough striker Sonny Finch is the latest prospect to earn an international call-up after he was brought into the England U17 squad ahead of the forthcoming European qualifiers against Armenia, Slovakia, and Belarus.

The 16-year-old scored in Boro’s 3-3 draw with Manchester United earlier this week and now follows the likes of Nathan Wood, Marcus Tavernier, and Dael Fry who have all represented the Three Lions at youth level.

Wood captain's Lions

And while Finch has earned his call-up, defender Wood captained England’s U20 side to a 1-1 draw with Italy.

Wood, who is currently on loan with Scottish Premiership side Hibernian, took the armband for the second time after leading the Young Lions to a 6-1 success over Romania last month.

The 19-year-old featured in Boro’s 3-0 defeat at Blackpool in the EFL Cup in August and will travel to Czech Republic on Monday, who the Three Lions take on next.

Rams to face further penalty

The EFL has confirmed Derby County could be sanctioned with a further three point deduction should the club fail to pay staff wages again.

Wages went unpaid for around a month at the beginning of the year and could impact the Rams' joint administrators were it to happen again.

The Derby Telegraph reports Rams Trust have published the written responses from the league to 15 questions put to them during a meeting late last month where the EFL said "Derby County did not pay wages due in December 2020 on time, and the net overdue amount remained unpaid in full until 22 January 2021. The Club provided several points in mitigation and were offered a suspended three-point penalty to be activated in the event of another breach occurring before 30 June 2022.”

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