Town and Boro see fixture changes

FOOTBALL: Two Huddersfield Town and two more Middlesbrough fixtures will kick off earlier because of the long journey times involved.

The Football League have allowed teams to alter the start times of matches when the away side is travelling a long way to play.

Huddersfield’s July trips to Birmingham City (1st) and Reading (7th) will now kick off at 6pm. Boro’s game the Madejski Stadium seven days later will also start at 6pm, while the July 5 home game against Queens Park Rangers kicks off at 2pm.

The Terriers restart the 201920 campaign with a 3pm visit from relegation rivals Wigan Athletic on Saturday. Boro’s home game against Swansea City that day had already been brought forward to 12.30pm.

All Championship clubs have nine matches to play, with the final round on July 22.

■ Defender Robbie McKenzie has become the latest player to commit to seeing out the season with Hull City.

Including loanees, the Tigers had been due to lose a big proportion of their squad at the end of June, but a temporary ruling allows them to extend contracts until the end of the season.

McKenzie follows Jon Toral, Kevin Stewart, Angus MacDonald and Dan Batty in signing a short-term deal, while agreements have been struck to extend the loans of Josh Bowler, Matthew Pennington and Herbie Kane.

Committing to longer stays is difficult for all parties because, two points above the Championship relegation zone with nine matches to play, it is unclear which division Hull will be in next season.

Talks with captain Eric Lichaj and Jackson Irvine, who wore the armband in his absence through injury, are “ongoing”.

Both are at least contracted for Saturday’s match at home to Charlton Athletic and the trip to Birmingham City.