Championship is getting harder and harder to predict

The ultra-competitive nature of the Championship is epitomised by the very fact that Burnley got through a mammoth 62 games en-route to clinching their promotion to the Premiership last term.

The division is widely regarded as one of the toughest leagues to get out of throughout Europe and Blackpool boss Ian Holloway is expecting nothing different next season.

“You can make a case for every single team in the division doing well. I tried to think about tipping the relegated clubs, but to be honest everybody has strengths and, given some luck with injuries, could be right up there,” he said.

“You look at last year’s table and only the top nine clubs had a positive goal difference, while Bristol City let in exactly the same number of goals as they scored.

“That’s a sign of how topsy-turvy the results can be at times. It must be a nightmare for people who gamble for a living because you can never guarantee anybody winning.

“I think the quality of the football is rising all the time, I really do. The big money in the Premier League is attracting more and more foreign players and that’s causing others to fall out of that standard and so more quality is filtering down.”

Holloway added: “But to be honest I enjoy the Championship for another reason – that’s because nearly all the managers in it are setting up their teams to beat you rather than stop you.”