NEWCASTLE Falcons centre Adam Powell admits the hard work has only just begun despite the club sealing their promotion to the Aviva Premiership on Wednesday night.

Falcons returned to the top-flight at the first time of asking, with a 49-33 aggregate victory over Bedford confirming their elevation.

Dean Richards' side were comfortably the best side in the Championship and suffered only three defeats all season, a meaningless end-of-season match with Bristol, the first leg of their play-off semi-final with Leeds and the British & Irish Cup final against Leinster.

Wednesday's success was accompanied by jubilant scenes at Kingston Park, but once the headaches wear off, attention will turn to what is required to keep Falcons in the top-flight next term.

"It'll be amazing," said Powell, who completed a permanent move to Falcons from Saracens in March. "There's a lot of hard work ahead because it's not about being there and making up the numbers."It's about competing, and making sure that we're working towards being as good as we can be. There's a lot to look forward to and the boys have earned it.

"I've just come in for the last ten games. It's good to get it out of the way, but the hard work starts now and we'll get ready for the Premiership. That's what everyone's here for, and I'm looking forward to it."

Promotion will be accompanied by a financial windfall of around £2m, and owner Semore Kurdi has already begun the process of reinvesting much of that back into the club with the acquisition of the likes of Phil Godman, Scott Lawson and Rory Clegg.

Jimmy Gopperth's departure will rob the club of one of the finest fly-halves in British rugby, but Dean Richards is confident he will assemble a squad that can successfully re-establish themselves in the top-flight next season.

The director of rugby is adamant that Falcons will not go back down the route of spending big money on a small number of marquee signings, something that arguably contributed to their decline under the tutelage of John Fletcher and Steve Bates.

Falcons will attempt to emulate the likes of Exeter and Worcester, two clubs who have stabilised in the Premiership following promotion without spending a great deal of money.

For now, though, Richards will simply bask in the glow of his side's success, even if he continues to argue that the Championship's play-off system is seriously flawed.

"I am happy," said Richards. "Although I still think it is the wrong way to go up. We have been in purgatory for the past three months, but we have had some good games in the knock-out stages and are finally over that line."