The 2017/18 Championship campaign is now well underway with every side having played four matches. This means that despite being so early on in the season, we are starting to see evidence of teams who could make a push for promotion to the Premier League come next May. This season already appears to have the ingredients to be one of the best Championship campaigns to date.
A lot of sides have spent big money in the hope of achieving promotion to the top flight this season with the likes of Middlesbrough and Wolverhampton Wanderers being the biggest spenders. Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Hull City are all backed by parachute payments that come as a result of relegation from the top flight, but it is only Boro who have invested heavily this summer so far.
Many other sides were also among the favourites for promotion by the bookies who do not have these sort of funds available. Sheffield Wednesday has finished in the playoffs for two consecutive years under the management of Carlos Carvalhal and remains fancied by many to make it third time lucky. Leeds United agonisingly missed out on the playoffs last season under Garry Monk and were also put among the contenders for this season under new manager Thomas Christiansen.
We take a look at three teams who have gone under the radar through pre-season but have made a superb start to the campaign and might now be viewed as ‘dark horses’ for promotion to the Premier League.
1. Nottingham Forest (Current Position – 4th)
Forest ensured they survived relegation to League One in dramatic style on the final day of last season by beating Ipswich Town 3-0 at The City Ground. Mark Warburton was appointed as manager of the club with nine games to go and did just enough to keep the Reds in the division. However, there has since been a change of ownership at the club with Greek shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis taking over from Fawaz Al-Hasawi after a disastrous five-year period.
Since things have started to look better off the pitch at the club, the football on the pitch has also improved. Forest have won three of their opening four games including wins against Millwall and promotion hopefuls Brentford and Middlesbrough. Their only defeat came last week against Barnsley in a match in which they deserved at least a point.
A huge reason for Forest’s recent success is down to the recruitment of Director of Football Frank McParland who works very closely with Warburton. They have used the £15 million received for Britt Assombalonga very wisely by bringing in the likes of Daryl Murphy, Jason Cummings, Barrie McKay, Tendayi Darikwa, Kieran Dowell, Andreas Bouchalakis among others who have all really helped improve the squad.
Warburton has already stated that he is looking for one or two more additions before the transfer window slams shut at the end of the month to strengthen his squad even further. One player who has been strongly linked with the Reds is Leeds United midfielder Liam Bridcutt. Some reports have suggested that a deal could even be completed before the two sides face each other at The City Ground this weekend. He would be another quality addition for Forest, especially if the reported £1 million fee turns out to be accurate.
