Warnock: Getting Leeds promoted is my biggest challenge ever

Warnock, handed the onerous task of guiding Leeds back to the top flight for the first time since 2004, hopes to follow in the footsteps of Howard Wilkinson, another proud Sheffield man, who won promotion to the old First Division with the West Yorkshire club in 1990.

Former Sheffield United boss Warnock has been busy in the transfer market this summer and Leeds are among the top half-dozen clubs fancied by bookmakers to make it this time around to the Barclays Premier League.

But Warnock, who has taken the Blades, Notts County and QPR into the top flight, need only cast his eye back to this time last year when big-spending Leicester under Sven-Goran Eriksson were expected to lead the chase for npower Championship promotion.

Leicester’s owner, Thai businessman Vichai Raksriaksorn, had stumped up around £10million for new players but the Foxes never recovered from a poor start and did not even threaten to make the play-offs.

Eriksson was sacked in October and replaced by Nigel Pearson, who has since brought in his own clutch of players to convince bookmakers that Leicester will again be the team to beat in the npower Championship during the 2012/13 season.

Warnock has also overhauled the squad he inherited but the two best players at Elland Road, skipper Jonny Howson and Robert Snodgrass, have been sold to Norwich and with more than half a dozen new faces to bed in, Leeds are behind Leicester and relegated pair Bolton and Wolves in the betting.

The third relegated club, Blackburn, continue to be dogged by rotten luck. Manager Steve Kean maintains the support of controversial Indian owners Venky’s and added the likes of striker Leon Best, midfielders Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu and former Portugal international Nuno Gomes to his squad over the summer.

But just when it appeared Blackburn’s fortunes were beginning to turn, £3million signing Best sustained a cruciate ligament injury in a friendly win over AEK Athens and is expected to be sidelined for six months.

Strikers Yakubu and Junior Hoilett have departed Ewood Park but the majority of Kean’s squad from the Premier League remains intact and Rovers cannot be discounted for an immediate return.

Wolves’ new manager, Norwegian Stale Solbakken, wants to lay down a new legacy at Molineux but as with all clubs relegated from the Premier League, his chances of leading them straight back will depend on which players can be persuaded to stay.

Solbakken has said he expects big changes but the arrival of Bjorn Bergmann Sigurdarson, Frank Nouble, Jamie Tank and Tongo Doumbia on loan suggests Wolves will be in the reckoning come the end of the season.

Cardiff will launch another promotion campaign this season - in red. The Bluebirds’ famous blue kit has been ditched in favour of a red one as part of a rebranding by the club’s mega-rich Malaysian owners.

The Welsh outfit will also be sporting a new club badge in a bid to appeal to the huge market in the Far East while fans closer to home will be expecting another promotion challenge in return.

Owen Coyle’s Bolton will be hoping to set the early pace after their disappointment in May.

The Scot has plenty of Premier League pedigree at his disposal and has bolstered his squad with three astute signings in midfielder Keith Andrews, defender Matt Mills and goalkeeper Andy Lonergan.

The return to fitness of South Korean Lee Chungyong will be like a new signing in itself as the midfielder missed the whole of last season due to a broken leg.

Hull are another side in an ever more competitive Championship geared for a promotion push under new manager Steve Bruce.

The Tigers splashed out £2.5million on German striker Nick Proschwitz and winger Sone Aluko joined from Rangers while two clubs under new ownership, Nottingham Forest and Watford, are sure to gain early momentum.

Kuwaiti businessman Fawaz Al Hasawi completed his takeover at the City Ground in June and installed Sean O’Driscoll as new manager and although several key players have departed, new signings such as Adlene Guedioura, Danny Collins, Greg Halford and Dan Harding could propel Forest into play-off contention.

The Italian-based Pozzo family, who took control of Watford in June and replaced manager Sean Dyche with Gianfranco Zola, are likely to make an immediate impact on a club that finished 11th last season.

Seven new players from the family-owned clubs in Spain and Italy, Granada and Udinese, were drafted in at the end of July.

Blackpool, beaten in the play-off final by West Ham in May, will mount another challenge under Ian Holloway and Middlesbrough will return stronger after Tony Mowbray’s dealings in the summer transfer market.

Mowbray has brought in the likes of Jonathan Woodgate, Grant Leadbitter and George Friend to beef up his promotion aspirations.

Bristol City, Peterborough and Barnsley all struggled to keep their heads above water last season and will again find the going tough while promoted sides Charlton, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield all add weight to the Championship, with fans expecting their respective club to hold their own.

• Keep abreast of news from your club, plus complete live match data and stats, with our new FREE apps. Versions for iPhone and Android.