THE Championship is never an easy division but such is the strength of next season's second tier line-up, QPR boss Gareth Ainsworth recently joked that he was "scared" by the challenge of the campaign ahead.

Millwall boss Gary Rowett, however, said that while the division does look extremely strong on paper, it won't be any different to previous seasons.

Rather than worry about other teams, Middlesbrough and Sunderland will only be focusing on themselves on the back of such impressive campaigns last time out.

Both teams defied the odds to make the top six, Sunderland having won promotion from League One the season previous and Boro having suffered from such a poor start. Next year, both teams will have to deal with expectation. But both are approaching pre-season in positions of real strength and are relishing the challenge ahead.

So, what can Boro and the Black Cats expect from the Championship's newcomers? Southampton, Leeds United and Leicester City are coming down and Plymouth, Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday have come up from League One.

Leicester City

After their surprise relegation, what to expect of Leicester City in the Championship?

They're favourites to win the title - inevitable, really given their profile - but do the facts back up the odds?

As things stand, it's hard to know, for the Foxes have been surrounded by uncertainty in the early weeks of the summer.

Managerial clarity came on Friday night, with Manchester City coach Enzo Maresca taking charge.

Maresca previously had a miserable stint in charge of Parma but was a key part of Pep Guardiola's coaching team as City won a brilliant treble.

Scott Parker has previously been linked with Leicester, as had ex-Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The big challenge for Maresca is going to be rebuilding the squad after a series of inevitable exits.

Youri Tielemans, Caglar Soyuncu, Daniel Amartey, Nampalys Mendy, Ryan Bertrand and Ayoze Perez have all gone already and more will follow. Timothy Castagne, Jannik Vestergaard and Wilfred Ndidi could go.

James Maddison will be the most high profile departure, with Newcastle and Tottenham battling for the England international, while Leicester face a fight to keep hold of Harvey Barnes.

Leicester's squad will still be strong come the start of the season but can they recover from the exodus and last season's shock?

Leeds United

Like Leicester, Leeds United are approaching their first season back in the Championship with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over them.

While there was finally takeover clarity last week, with the sale of the club to the 49ers agreed, it's still unclear at this stage who'll be the man in the dugout next season. 

Leeds have made one key appointment, with former Newcastle consultant Nick Hammond joining as interim football advisor on a short-term contract after Victor Orta's exit.

On the manager front, any Leeds hopes of tempting Brendan Rodgers to Elland Road look to be disappearing as the former Leicester boss closes in on a surprise return to Celtic.

Ex-Norwich boss Daniel Farke is the current favourite. Current West Brom boss and former Leeds coach Carlos Corberan is in the running to swap the Hawthorns for Elland Road. Steven Gerrard was linked but he won't be the man replacing Sam Allardyce.

"It really is impossible to know what to expect and any sort of confident prediction can only really be formed after the summer," says Lee Sobot, who covers Leeds for the Yorkshire Evening Post.

"The only certainty at present is that there will be a whole host of departures over the next two and a half months, likely into the double figures.

"Quite whether the Whites can get star men Tyler Adams and Willy Gnonto to stick around remains to be seen and there must be huge doubts about the likes of Rodrigo staying. Without him, the Whites would have been relegated far earlier than they were last term.

"United's third season back in the country's top flight was dreadful and the club got what they deserved, relegation, after a catalogue of poor decisions and poor performances.

"But Leeds ought to be in a much better place than they were back then given the presence of parachute payments, a solid base if not squad and, crucially, the possibility of further cash injections from their new owners for whom there is no time to gradually bed in.

"Leeds need a new manager sorting pronto, not to mention a squad overhaul and those factors together with the level of cash injection will ultimately decide how the Whites fare.

"Get it all right and Leeds might well bounce back at the first attempt but might is the operative word and United's fans know all too well just how tough life in the Championship is."

The Northern Echo:

Southampton

Southampton's relegation from the Premier League appeared inevitable for a while last season, which at least gave club bosses a head start in planning for the likelihood of life in the Championship and bouncing back at the first time of asking.

The man in charge will be Russell Martin, who is moving to St Mary's from Swansea City, a move that has been held up while the clubs try and thrash out a financial agreement.

Alfie House, who covers Saints for the Daily Echo, said: "Despite the delay in officially appointing a manager, Southampton’s owners are confident ahead of the new season and have set out their ambition to win the league – or at least get promoted – as quickly as possible.

"Although there is expected to be significant player turnover with the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Kyle Walker-Peters and Romeo Lavia likely leaving, most of their 14 signings under the new owners have been made with a view to the future and have shown in flashes they can be influential.

"They will also be one of the bigger spenders in the division if needed to be and will recoup most of it in sales, while still offsetting the turnover loss of dropping out of the Premier League. Saints were so far off the pace in the Premier League and should have been relegated weeks or months before they finally were, and there has been huge change at boardroom and leadership level too.

"They have appointed a new director of football and head of recruitment already but still have a few more staff to get in, not including Russell Martin and his coaching staff, with an announcement likely soon.

"It’s whether the decisions Sport Republic have made and will make are good ones that will decide the direction of the season – last campaign, they were not good. Anything outside the top six will be deemed a failure but supporters don’t feel that an instant bounce-back is guaranteed by any means."

Plymouth

Plymouth defied the odds to charge to the League One title last season, amassing 101 points in a brilliant campaign.

Sunderland showed last season that it is possible for League One promotion winners to carry their momentum into the second tier and challenge at the top end, but the priority for Argyle next season is undoubtedly staying up.

"The challenge is can you overperform your budget?" said boss Steven Schumacher, who has done a superb job in charge at Home Park.

"That's always the brief - can you punch above your weight for a couple of places, and if we can do that and manage to do well and survive in the Championship then everyone would obviously see that as a progression.

"I understand where we're at and what we're going into the division with. The challenges are that you're shopping in a different shop now.

"You're having to get players who are that next level, so that next level requires more money and that's why it's so important that we try and spend the money that we've got available to us wisely and make the best use of it that we can."

Reports have emerged this week claiming Swansea are lining up a move for Schumacher to replace Southampton-bound Russell Martin, but Plymouth said in a statement: "We don't comment on managerial or player speculation but can confirm Steven Schumacher is fully committed to the club and looking forward to the Sky Bet Championship season getting underway."

Argyle are expected to try and make the most of the loan market this summer.

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Ipswich

While Schumacher is clear that Plymouth's aim is survival, Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna has higher hopes.

“No one wants to put a ceiling on what this club can achieve,” he said as he looks ahead to the coming Championship campaign.

“To get out of League One we needed to be more humble in terms of how we thought, how we embraced the challenge, and next season has to be the same. It’s going to be a big step-up for everyone.

“We have big aspirations, no upper limit, but we will continue to work hard and build this club in the right way.”

Ipswich's wage budget last season was almost three times the size of Plymouth's and McKenna - who is good friends with Boro boss Michael Carrick with the pair having worked together at Manchester United - will be backed in the summer window.

Perhaps the most important signing Ipswich will make all summer though is that of the manager, who this week signed a new four-year deal.

CEO Mark Ashton said: “It is an indicator of the further progression the club wishes to make, with continued investment in infrastructure and key personnel.”

Ipswich will be bold in the summer window and have been linked with a permanent move for ex-Sunderland loanee Ellis Simms.

Ex-Boro midfielder Massimo Luongo has signed a new deal with the club having impressed last term.

McKenna said: "He played such a massive role for us in the second half of last season.

“He is such an intelligent footballer who was able to adapt quickly to our style as a team and the role we wanted him to play."

Sheffield Wednesday

After winning promotion in the most dramatic fashion, Sheffield Wednesday are now looking to maintain their momentum and once again establish themselves in the Championship.

Their plans for the coming campaign have been slightly disrupted by the exit of head of recruitment David Downes to Blackpool, but boss Darren Moore is said to be hands-on when it comes to signings, so the Owls are hoping the departure won't have too much of an impact on their summer business.

How they plan to approach the summer transfer window, though, is not yet clear, but Moore says Wednesday can't afford to get big decisions wrong.

He said: "When you look at the Championship now, it looks like a real strong Championship with the teams that have come down and ourselves, Ipswich, and Plymouth going up. You look at some of the games coming up and it's really exciting.

"We look back at it (promotion), we draw breath, in terms of the fact we're going into a really exciting campaign and that's why for us a football club we need to make sure we get a lot of things right going up to that level."

Josh Windass, who scored the dramatic last gasp winner in the play-off final, is reportedly a target for Southampton.