Middlesbrough – another club with recent Premiership experience – are current favourites. Manager Gordon Strachan has bought in Kris Boyd from Rangers; if Boyd reproduces his outstanding goalscoring record in the Championship, he could be play a vital part in Boro’s promotion bid.

Although the clubs relegated from the Premiership shouldn’t be entirely written off, Burnley look the best equipped for a serious promotion challenge: Chris Iwelumo’s arrival from Wolves looks like a shrewd investment. Both Hull City and Portsmouth have off field issues that could hinder their efforts to make an immediate return to the top tier.

Two of the teams that reached the play offs last season should challenge for promotion places. Nottingham Forest were outstanding at home last season and Leicester City – where former Swansea City boss Paolo Sousa replaces Nigel Pearson as manager – look capable of maintaining their form from 2009/2010. Cardiff City’s prospects are unclear, but they should still be capable of a top ten finish, a prospect that both Ipswich Town and QPR will be hoping to achieve.

It’ll be interesting to see how the new arrivals from League One will perform. Champions Norwich City return after one season but may have to settle for a mid table finish; Leeds United will probably lead the division in attendance numbers, but their season may depend on how well new signing Billy Paynter adapts to the Championship. Millwall should avoid relegation but may have to be content with a bottom half finish in their first season at this level since 2005/2006.

A number of teams look as if they may struggle. Scunthorpe always seem to be punching above their weight but selling Gary Hooper to Celtic leaves The Iron without a proven goal scorer. Barnsley need to improve at home, Crystal Palace entered administration but eventually owed their survival to an outstanding away record that culminated in a win at Sheffield Wednesday on the last day of the season.

However, every club in the nPower Football League Championship will start on equal terms when the season starts on the evening of Friday August 6th, when Watford travel to Norwich City (7:45pm kick off, live on Sky Sports 3).

Why they feel the need to constantly remind us that the teams on show are not as good as the top Premier League ones is beyond me. Perhaps they believe that there are people out there who only started watching football in 1992; as if the existence of the other 72 professional clubs has a sole purpose to provide a structure of promotion and relegation that eventually leads to the Premiership.

This is not to say that fans of Football League clubs should have reason to resent Sky Sports. Their live coverage of the play-offs and league games is an excellent option for both fans and neutrals interested in the outcome of these games; just as live Premiership football gives us the opportunity to watch some of the best players in the world week-in week-out. Instead, the issue is the tone used by commentators and pundits when covering league football. How often does one hear a player described as ‘very effective at this level’?

Robert Earnshaw has perhaps been one of the most frequent victims of this label, one of a number of players who aren’t good enough for the Premiership. This is undoubtedly true, he has had opportunities in the top flight and not quite imposed himself, but the very culture that Sky Sports and the Premiership itself creates means that players like Earnshaw, and there are many of them, are frequently underappreciated for their excellence in the Football League because of their inability to shine at the highest level.

If you ask a fan of any club for which players like Robert Earnshaw, Gavin Mahon or Graham Kavanagh have played then you will hear glowing reports as to their consistence and quality. The journeyman footballer evokes images of hard working yet not particularly gifted players moving from club to club in the lower echelons of English football.

This is often not the case and one only has to look at a player like Nicky Forster to highlight the enduring quality of some players. At 36 years of age he has scored 40 goals in 98 games for Brighton, an outstanding achievement from a player who has averaged a goal every three games over a 15 year professional career. This feat has been achieved with a natural talent the like of which so many fans would die for, and there are very few, if any, professional footballers who are where they are as a result of hard work alone.

I recently heard a commentator on Sky Sports describe volleying as a ‘difficult technique to master’ after a player ballooned the ball into the stands from just inside the area. This may be the case for 15 year olds learning the game but for professional footballers earning in excess of £200,000 a year it is just patronising. If a Premiership footballer misses an easy chance then commentators are quick to criticise and the same should be true when one of the many quality players in the Football League does the same.

Indeed, this is all many of us would ask for, to be allowed to watch any televised game for what it is without the constant references to the Premiership. There are of course some outstanding matches played throughout the course of the Premiership season, yet there are also some terrible ones.

Give any avid football fan the choice between a dull, meaningless mid-table Premiership contest and an important, season-defining game in any one of the other professional leagues and they will choose the latter.

This is because we are fans of the game first and foremost, beyond any team or player loyalties, and it is the drama and excitement of it that keeps us watching.

Every so often, Sky could do with acknowledging this and showing us that they are football fans instead of Premiership fans.

Newcastle were easy winners against a Peterborough side who are struggling for form and find themselves unceremoniously dumped at the bottom of the table, thanks to Roy Keane’s Ipswich picking up a point from the 1-1 draw with Reading.

West Brom who faced a recent dip in fortune found their way back to winning ways at Leicester, who despite the 2-1 loss remain in the dogfight for promotion play off places in sixth. Albion are clinging to Newcastle’s shirt tails in second place, two points behind the Magpies.

The game of the weekend in the Championship, for me anyway, was the clash between Welsh clubs Swansea and Cardiff. Cardiff have been scoring goals for fun as Ron Atkinson might say and were favourites going into the tie. Swansea have been doing pretty well themselves following the adjustments at the club following the departure of Roberto Martinez.

New manager Paulo Sousa has instilled a winning mentality into the Swans and before Saturday’s derby they were unbeaten in nine games, having conceded only ten goals and five points adrift of Cardiff but heading in the right direction.

Cardiff manager Dave Jones on the other hand has a team that had scored 31 goals, the division’s top scorers, and had just picked up the Manager of the Month award for guiding the team to third in the Championship.

On the day it was Swansea who came out on top in an enthralling encounter which they won 3-2, with two goal Darren Prately the player of the match.  It is hard to argue with the result, Swansea just having that extra edge throughout an excellent and exciting game, for a neutral.

Elsewhere, Middlesbrough continue their free fall from the top of the league, even Gordon Strachan needs time it seems, Crystal Palace taking three points from them with a 1-0 win.

As ever in the Championship, at least half of the table are within early sight of the automatic and promotion play off places, leaving the other half desperately trying to accumulate enough points not to be dragged into a relegation place.

Barnsley

It is the second defeat on the trot in the Championship and third in a week including the Carling Cup loss at Arsenal for the Baggies and has put a temporary dent in their attempt at marching straight back to the Premiership.

Barnsley, who are at the other end of the Championship table, were much the better team and deserved the win with a performance that belies their position in the league.

Michael Chopra scored four in Cardiff’s mauling of Derby County as the Welsh team found their early season form and thrashed Nigel Clough’s side 6-1.

Promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough and Preston were both beaten, the latter by lowly strugglers Reading who won away 1-2 and lifted themselves up the table but will need to build on this result to avoid a relegation battle later in the season.

Gareth Southgate was booed by the home crowd following the 0-1 defeat by Leicester who are now just one point behind Middlesbrough after an indifferent start to the campaign.

Roy Keane’s Ipswich were robbed yet again as Sheffield United scored an equalising goal in injury time to make the score 3-3. Ipswich had led 3-1 and will be disappointed at letting the game slip away, although one point is better than none.

Ipswich Town’s Simon Clegg was quick to dispel any rumours that Keane’s time at the club was coming to an end by issuing a statement to say there is no pressure on the Irishman.

Coventry staged a late comeback to take all the points from their visit to Watford, trailing 2-1 the Sky Blues scored twice in the last ten minutes or so to seal the win 2-3.

Bristol City beat Blackpool 2-0 who are now both on 16 points just outside the play off places which is becoming very congested with five teams on the same points.

Crystal Palace were held to a 0-0 against visitors Sheffield Wednesday, the same result as at Doncaster who entertained Swansea. The bottom of the table clash between Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough and Plymouth was won by the south west team 1-2, their first win of the season.

Newcastle have the chance to stretch their lead to five points at the top of the league when they take on QPR tonight, while Nottingham Forest will host Scunthorpe in the other game.

Chopra struck within four minutes of kick off following good play from Jay Bothroyd and struck twice more in the last ten minutes of the game. A through ball from Peter Whittingham provided the second goal with Chopra lobbing the Plymouth goalkeeper,  a penalty conversion made three in the dying minutes.

Alan Gow scored a consolation goal from the penalty spot after Tony Capaldi handled in the box. The Cardiff defender was dismissed for picking up two yellow cards in the game and will now face suspension.

Cardiff City are now unbeaten after three games and lead the Championship on goal difference, with Middlesbrough, Coventry, West Bromwich Albion and Bristol City in a similar position to the Welsh club, all on seven points.

Chopra is the fourth player to be signed by Cardiff City this week, Motherwell defender Paul Quinn arrived at Ninian Park at the weekend, with the defence being further bolstered by the arrival of Anthony Gerrard from Walsall and Mark Hudson from Charlton.

Cardiff boss Dave Jones seeing the defensive signings as a priority following the departure of  both Roger Johnson and Darren Purse from last years squad.

Chopra now holds the unique record of being Cardiff City’s record signing and also record sale, the player left Cardiff to join Sunderland in 2007 for £5million.

Throughout much of the season, Birmingham and Reading have been jostling for the second place automatic promotion place to the Premier League, but a run of good results sees Kevin Blackwell’s Sheff Utd now separating two teams looking to automatically bounce back to the top flight of English football at the first attempt.

Reading beat Norwich 2-0 last night at Carrow Road.  A result that has all but sealed The Canaries fate to play League One football next season. And with all clubs playing their final fixtures simultaneously next Sunday 3rd May at 3PM, the fixture list could not be more exciting.

Reading v Birmingham

Sheffield United v Cardiff City

Reading will need to beat Birmingham and hope Sheffield United can only draw against fith place Cardiff City, to finish in second place on goal difference.

Cardiff (74 points) will be fighting for at least a point or they may miss out on a play-off place, altogether. Burnley (73 points) have a home tie with Bristol City, while Preston play at home to QPR.

Preston (71 points) are the only team that can move into the play-off positions but will need to displace either Cardiff or Burnley in the process.  Again, this one could be decided on goal difference.

Once again we head towards the final weekend of the Championship without knowing who is being promoted or relegated.  The 2008/09 Championship season has been another hugely entertaining season and one that has helped to promote the very best in English football.

However, Championship managers and chairmen were very busy as well and many signings were made as clubs aim to improve their squad ahead of the final third of the season. Let’s take a look at the most significant signings to have taken place yesterday.

Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers splashed the cash on Hearts captain Christophe Berra. It is thought that the 24-year-old midfielder moves to Wolves for a fee around the £2.5m mark.

Fellow high-flyers Cardiff City also managed to secure a transfer coup on deadline day as they brought in Sunderland striker Michael Chopra for a club-record fee of £4m. The former Newcastle man initially joins on loan, but will sign a permanent contract at the end of the season.

Another interesting move involving one of the higher placed teams was that of Arturo Lupoli. Having failed to make much of an impact at Norwich, his loan was terminated so that Sheffield United could swoop in and secure his services. It will be interesting to see how he does.

Speaking of Norwich, they were one of the busiest Championship clubs on deadline day as they brought in Fulham defender Adrian Leijer, non-league striker Cody McDonald and Rangers striker Alan Gow. This follows the signing of Chris Killen from Celtic a few days earlier.

Barnsley were also very busy as they signed Coventry striker Michael Misfud, Liverpool winger Adam Hammill and Fulham midfielder Andranik Teymourian on loan. They are obviously keen to freshen up a squad that has failed to win in their last six games in all competitions. The football odds are starting to suggest they could go down and this has forced them to act.

Watford were another team to make a couple of signings in a bid to claw themselves away from the drop zone. They have brought in Latvian winger Aleksandrs Cauna on-loan and also completed the permanent signing of Don Cowie who joins from SPL club Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

So, Wolves and Cardiff were the biggest spenders as they look to secure promotion to the Premier League, with Norwich, Barnsley and Watford the busiest teams as they aim to secure their Championship status for another year.

The 24 year old will be trying desperately to refind his form again to prove to his current manager, Roy Keane, that he is a natural goalscorer. Though there is talk that the loan deal may end up becoming permanent when the transfer window re-opens.

The Bluebirds will graciously open their sympathetic arms for the return of Chopra who only spent a mere 13 months at Ninian Park. But while his was there, he scored an excellent 22 goals in 42 appearances, including a stunning hat-trick to defeat Leicester City 3-2.

Subsequently he moved to Sunderland for £5 million after the Mackems activated a release clause in his contract. He scored the opening day winner against Tottenham at the Stadium of Light last season, when he came on as a late substitute, but lack of consistency and being a former Newcastle starlet, the fans never warmed to him and he found his chances few and far between.

Last season he only managed to score six goals to contribute to Sunderland’s survival in the Premiership, playing many of his games from midfield.

This season Roy Keane has dropped Chopra down the pecking order, as new strikers El-Hadji Diouf and Djibril Ciise were brought in this summer.

Michael Chopra’s return to Ninian Park has come about as Cardiff’s front pairing of Ross McCormack and Jay Bothroyd have both been ruled out of action for a lengthy period due to hamstring injuries.

McCormack has been the star of the show this season with his 11 goals helping Cardiff into the play-off places. With Bothroyd, the dymamic duo supplied a lethal partnership scoring 14 out of the 19 goals of the teams tally.

Manager Dave Jones has moved shrewdly to re-employ Chopra’s services and with the upcoming game against rivals Queens Park Rangers they need to maintain their good form in order to cement their position in the play off places.

Michael Chopra could end up being the man to score the goals which will see Cardiff City win promotion from the Championship.

Like I said, it has been far more effort than it should have been for Cardiff boss Dave Jones to find a striker that is willing to come to the club. First of all, Cardiff lost

Robbie Fowler to Premier League side Blackburn, meaning the search for a replacement was on. Then they thought they had secured Marcus Bent’s signature, but the player decided to join Championship rivals Birmingham at the last minute.

The next twist was that Kenny Cooper – who plays up front for FC Dallas – took too long to complete his move to Ninian Park, so Dave Jones pulled the plug on the move. All this meaning, that the season was getting dangerously close and Cardiff were still short of strikers.

So, step up Jay Bothroyd. He is the man the Bluebirds have turned to. Chairman Peter Ridsdale has said that he is a ‘great acquisition’ for the club. He also hopes that Jay Bothroyd can for fill the potential he showed in the early stages of his career. This comes after a couple of seasons where the player has underachieved in terms of his performances. For example, last season he only hit the back of the net on four occasions for Wolves.

As for this season, in terms of Championship football betting, I don’t think Jay Bothroyd will be one of the favourites to lead the goal scoring charts. He has a lot to prove and should he go a few games without scoring at the beginning of his Cardiff career, the critics will start jumping on his back.  However, the fresh start allows him to regain his confidence and bag himself some goals as Cardiff push for promotion to the Premier League.