When Blackpool, Sheffield United and Sunderland must submit their 25-man squad lists to the EFL

All clubs in the EFL’s three divisions are required to register their official list once the transfer window closes, whether it be the summer window or the winter version.

In the Championship, clubs are limited to naming 25 ‘senior’ players. A senior player is deemed to be a player aged 21 or over on January 1, 2022.

That means Sonny Carey, who was aged 20 on the first day of the year, is not considered a senior player.

But loan players, irrespective of age, have to be included. So that means Charlie Patino, Lewis Fiorini and Theo Corbeanu, who are 18, 20 and 20 respectively, all count towards the official 25-man list.

Following another busy transfer window, Michael Appleton’s side currently have 24 ‘senior’ players under contract on their books.

Not every contracted player has to be named in the squad, but to leave a player out when they’re fit and available would be a costly approach to take given you’re effectively paying them to do nothing.

This leaves Blackpool with one free slot to bring in a free agent, which is something Appleton remains keen to do.

However, Pool’s head coach has recently hinted he would like to bring in two unattached players if he could, which means the Seasiders would have to leave out a current player to create the added space.

Appleton recently told The Gazette certain players that are sidelined by injury for the foreseeable future could be omitted from the squad before being brought back in January, fitness permitting.

The likes of Kevin Stewart, Fiorini and Jake Beesley could all come into this category.

The likes of Charlie Patino and Keshi Anderson, meanwhile, are expected to return from injury within the next few weeks.

Blackpool must submit their official list to the EFL by the end of play today, so we should find out soon who has made the final cut.

However, the lists aren’t always immediately uploaded to the EFL’s website so we might have to endure a short wait.