IF a Premier League season is a marathon, not a sprint, then nine months in the Championship is a triathlon, not a marathon.

Every reserve of a squad is fully stress-tested as the games come thick and fast, unrelenting across autumn, winter and spring. Wednesday night, it’s Plymouth away. Saturday, you’re at home to an in-form top six rival. The following Tuesday it’s to the Den and that’s the one that will get you, as your captain nurses a groin strain and your number 10 finds himself spent of ingenuity.

It never stops, and for a good portion of the slog it feels like it’s never going to end.

Worse yet, unlike in the top tier, there is no distinguishable hierarchy and certainly no aristocracy. Subsequently, there are no home bankers against sides who are already a goal down before kick-off. From the summit to relegation fodder, there’s a healthy disregard for stature or league position.

Just look at Leicester, last season’s champions, for evidence of this. The Foxes finished a touch shy of a hundred points. They were a brilliantly put-together and fluid collective containing several players too good for the division.

Yet they still lost 11 times, the same number as Chelsea, with five of those losses to teams languishing in the bottom half of the table. Naturally one of them occurred at the Den.

With all this in mind therefore we must look past the obvious criteria that is typically gauged when separating the wheat from the chaff. Because a proven goal-scorer will only take you so far without fortitude and togetherness being prevalent throughout the group.

Impish creatives, meanwhile, are all well and good, but they cannot be relied upon to produce magic for 46 games straight.

No, a deep squad with plenty of experience within is key while it helps significantly if a team has a manager who knows the way, having previously navigated the choppy waters and the post-Christmas grind to good effect. And of course quality is a must. Nobody is suggesting otherwise for all that endurance and fight is being promoted here.

All of which leads us to Turf Moor and Burnley, a club that comprehensively dominated this division two years ago before Vincent Kompany unwisely doubled down on the traits which made that happen to huge cost in the top-flight.

Does it matter that they go into this campaign with a new manager? Not one bit. Indeed the last three champions of the Championship – including the Clarets in 2022/23 – were led by gaffers appointed that summer.

Moreover, Scott Parker has previous for guiding a side out of this chaotic and ultra-competitive league, doing so with Fulham via the play-offs in 2020, then again with Bournemouth.

As for squad depth, experience and quality, Burnley have each in spades, too much in fact concerning the former which is why so much of their window has been given over to trimming it back.

In Connor Roberts, Josh Brownhill and Sander Berge they possess players who have been around the block. In Lyle Foster they have goals at this level.

Back Burnley to win the EFL Championship at 8/1

So who is fancied to join them in the other automatic spot?

Leeds are the big tip for many, but some caution must accompany a team priced up as favourites who lost a Play-Off final in May as hangovers from such a seismic defeat are commonplace.

Only three of the last 12 Play-Off final losers went up the following season, all ironically through the play-offs. Several of the others plummeted into mid-table mediocrity.

Add in the increased pressure, not to mention the distinct possibility of being deprived of their best player Crysencio Summerville before the window shuts, and there is scant value to be found regarding the Yorkshire giants.

Whereas Norwich City are a terrific shout at fives to get promoted by either means.

A long-established member of the yo-yo community, the Canaries finished sixth last time out but were undermined at every turn by David Wagner’s failure to maximize their potential.

Now in comes Johannes Hoff Thorup, one of the most fascinating managerial appointments of the summer, and should the Dane succeed in implementing his offensive mandate quickly and well at Carrow Road who knows where it might lead?

Certainly, the highly rated coach has the right tools at his disposal, with Gabriel Sara capable of sustained excellence in the middle and Josh Sargent a willing worker and reliable finisher.

For a team that intends to play out from the back they’ve bought well too, bringing in defender Jose Cordoba from Levski Sofia.

Norwich have coveted Thorup for many years, going right back to his days coaching youth sides in Scandinavia. If their faith is well-placed then a fourth promotion inside a decade could well beckon.

Back Norwich to win promotion, including via play-offs, at 5/1

Regarding top six contenders, we head to the north-east, with Sunderland anticipated to kick on this term after finally accepting that you don’t win anything with kids unless you’re Manchester United in possession of the Class of 92.

That their three signings to date have an average age of 29 bodes well when joining up with a very talented group of youngsters in need of guidance.

Middlesbrough too are fancied to excel, and here we go back to an earlier comment on proven goal-scorers.

Because if a striker capable of racking up 20+ strikes in a campaign is not sufficient to win leagues, they sure are a considerable bonus, and if Emmanuel Latte Lath continues where he left off, Boro are firmly in business.

Joining the Championship last August after umpteen loan spells all over the place, the Ivorian initially struggled to find his feet in English football, that was until he caught fire in March and spectacularly so. The 25-year-old fired 11 in his concluding 12 fixtures.

Michael Carrick meanwhile will benefit massively from having a fully fit roster of players for the first time in a calendar year.

Back Middlesbrough to finish top six at 5/4

Finally, there are the relegation candidates to identify, a tricky task given that last season’s dogfight featured a whole pound’s worth. With just a handful of games to go nine troubled clubs were separated by only five points, with just Rotherham definitely doomed.

Ultimately, it may once again come down to fine margins and good fortune from spring on.

Of those nine, Plymouth rallied late-on and pulled clear but they are a weaker proposition this time to last, while the appointment of Wayne Rooney feels like an entirely avoidable risk.

If it goes wrong in Devon it will go disastrously wrong and that thinking alone is enough to tip the Pilgrims to drop.

Back Plymouth to be relegated at 9/4

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