My last two blogs have focused on the teams relegated and promoted to the Championship, so what of three teams who have been plying their trade in the Championship for a bit longer and are fancied to put up a challenge for promotion? I will take a look at Leicester City, Blackpool and Cardiff - all hotly tipped to be up near the top come May 2013.
Leicester City - second favourites with a lot of the betting shops, well backed by the board and no stranger to the Premier League in the past. Last season Leicester managed to finish 9th, 9 points shy of the play-off places and will need to make a big improvement this season to realise their dream of being promotion hopefuls. The club have only ever spent one season outside of the top two leagues in 2008-09, during which they made an immediate return to the 2nd tier of football. Leicester will be looking to Kasper Schmeichel to guard the goal in the nets (player of the season for the club during 2011-12) and for captain Wes Morgan to help him out in defence at the back. A good opening day start with a 2-0 victory over Peterborough United at home has been undermined by consecutive defeats to Charlton and Blackburn away from home and with games coming up against Blackpool (current league leaders) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (looking to bounce back to the Premiership at the first time of asking) it will be interesting to see where the land lies afterwards but if promotion is to be realised for "The Foxes" I would say it is more likely to come via a play-off spot than automatically.
Blackpool - 4th favourites for promotion, working on a small budget but also having tasted life in the Premiership in the not so distant past. Last season Blackpool finished 5th and in doing so secured a play-off position which saw them reach the final against West Ham United, having defeated Birmingham in the semi-final. A heartbreaking 87th minute winner for West Ham saw Blackpool lose 2-1 and condemned to another season in the Championship. Blackpool will be hoping that Matt Philips (named in last seasons PFA team of the year) will be able to provide ample service from the wing and that Kevin Phillips can provide both experience and goals up front. Blackpool have made an excellent start to the current season winning all three of their opening games to be the only side in the Championship to still have a 100% record. Wins against Milwall, Leeds and a 6-0 demolition of Ipswich Town bodes well for the side and it wouldn't be surprising if "the Seasiders" were challenging near the top of the table again this season.
Cardiff City - 5th favourites for promotion, ambitious owners and yet to play at the pinnacle of the football pyramid. Last season Cardiff finished 6th and like Blackpool secured a play-off position but were thoroughly beaten in two legs in the semi-final by eventual winners West Ham. Cardiff will be looking towards Peter Whittingham (named in last seasons PFA team of the year) to provide some creativity in midfield and new signing but returning old boy Craig Bellamy to provide fire power up front. An indifferent start to the season has seen Cardiff scrape home to a win against Huddersfield, draw against Brighton and Hove Albion and lose comfortably to Bristol City and an improvement to performances will be needed if the "Bluebirds" are to reach the play-offs again.
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