The Championship - Battle for Play-Offs

Jordan Rhodes is a star man in the Championship

The battle for promotion to the Premier League doesn't end after 46 games, oh no, four teams will carry on playing but who might they be? Alex Johnson investigates.

The Championship gets underway on Friday and fans will head into the season with fresh optimism their team can make the Premier League.

We previously identified the top teams battling for automatic promotion, so now let's look at five outfits that look good for a crack at the play-off positions.

Wigan Athletic

Uwe Rosler laid great foundations at Wigan as they finished with a fantastic unbeaten run to make the play-offs and FA Cup semi-finals, which will leave fans optimistic going into the manager's first full season in charge. There are no distractions with Europe like last season and Jordi Gomez has been the only major name to exit the DW Stadium this summer. Rosler has brought in a number of new faces, including some astute loan signings to boost the squad, and the free transfer additions of Martyn Waghorn and Don Cowie look particularly shrewd acquisitions. Last season Wigan were made to pay for a poor start to the campaign and the manager will be looking for them to hit their stride early and get in the promotion mix.

Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn narrowly missed out on the play-offs last season in a campaign of consolidation under Gary Bowyer. The club has been on the slide in recent years but Bowyer has steadied the ship and made a good start to managerial life. In Jordan Rhodes they have a talisman proven at finding the net on a regular basis - indeed Rhodes and Rudy Gestede proved themselves one of the best partnerships in the Championship. The summer additions of Chris Brown and Luke Varney further enhance Blackburn's attacking potency, while Alex Baptiste and Michael Keane have been brought in to bolster the defence. Bowyer has cut out a lot of the deadwood at Ewood Park and is building a squad capable of making the play-offs.

Watford

The return of Matej Vydra will be a huge boost to Watford for the upcoming Championship campaign. He got 24 goals during his first loan spell in 2012-13 and in Vydra and Troy Deeney Watford will have one of the most formidable partnerships in the division. Beppe Sannino underwent a steep learning curve after taking over from Gianfranco Zola and he's had a busy summer. The squad has had an injection of Premier League experience through Heurelho Gomes and proven Championship performers Keith Andrews and Lloyd Dyer have also joined. There's also been the annual influx of signings from Udinese and Granada along with some interesting loan additions, such as the exciting prospect of Daniel Tozser from Parma. Watford should improve on last season's 13th place and anything less than the play-offs would be deemed a failure.

Reading

Reading were a tad unlucky to miss out on a play-off spot on the final day of last season and Nigel Adkins has kept the bulk of that squad. He has been quiet in the transfer market but that is likely to change, with Nottingham Forest's Simon Cox just arrived and Anton Ferdinand and Jamie Mackie set to join. Key to Reading's promotion aspirations has to be an improvement in their home form, as they won only one game on their own turf after January. Adkins has retained key talent at Reading and, with a couple of useful additions, they should be eyeing a higher finish this time around.

Ipswich Town

Mick McCarthy is a wily old manager and he has improved Ipswich year-on-year. He hasn't been blessed with much money but has bought extremely well. McCarthy has built a squad with a lot of proven Championship experience and during this summer he strengthened what was an already solid defence. Ipswich had a tremendous record at Portman Road last season and could have made the play-offs if they had not slipped up against 'lesser' teams. The summer additions of Jonathan Parr and Johnny Williams from Crystal Palace and Cameron Stewart from Hull City add some much-needed extra quality. Ipswich need a striker to get them 20-plus goals - David McGoldrick could be that man - but they do have the potential to make the play-offs.