Which Championship strikers could cut it in the Premier League?

Jordan Rhodes is a player who can make the step up

Charlie Austin and Leonardo Ulloa have made their mark in the Premier League this season, who could follow in their footsteps?

Austin has already knocked in six Premier League goals for struggling QPR, while Ulloa has five to his name for a Leicester City side who have slumped after a good start to life back in the top-flight.

Both men had their doubters before the campaign got underway, but their success to date begs the question of which other Championship strikers could make the step up in the future?

There are a couple of candidates at Blackburn, with Jordan Rhodes having been expected to have already made the step up to the Premier League, but having opted to remain with Rovers for the time being.

The Scotland international has been a prodigious scorer in the last few seasons, netting 73 goals in 124 league outings for Huddersfield Town, before adding 57 in 106 appearances for Rovers to date.

That sort of return suggests that he could cut it at any level and his turn in the Premier League will surely come, although his Rovers team-mate, Rudi Gestede might just get there first.

The French-born Benin international failed to make an impression at Cardiff City, but has been reborn with Rovers and already has ten league goals to his name this season, with his 6ft 4in frame making him an ideal target man.

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Derby County frontman Chris Martin has also found the net ten times this season in the Championship and at 26 he appears to be maturing into the type of all-round player who could cut it at a higher level, much as Rickie Lambert has done in the last couple of seasons.

Add to the list the likes of Cameron Jerome and Norwich City and Cardiff's Kenwyne Jones, who have done the job in the Premier League before and would surely relish a second chance to prove their class at a higher level.

The same can be said of Matej Vydra, who continues to knock goals in for fun for Watford, although doubts remain about his ability to get the job done in the Premier League following a season-long loan spell with West Brom which yielded just three goals in 23 league appearances.

That leaves several candidates who have already been asked to step up to Championship level this season and have shown that they have got what it takes to be a success.

Andre Gray played a major role in helping Luton Town regain their Football League status and having been rewarded with a move to Brentford, is busy helping the Bees impress in the upper half of the Championship table.

Callum Wilson is doing likewise at Bournemouth after making his name with Coventry City, and like Gray is only in his early 20s and is blessed with a turn of speed and a cool head in front of goal - attributes which are bound to attract attention from top-flight watchers.

But perhaps the player with the most potential to make it big in the Premier League is the Nottingham Forest striker Britt Assombalonga.

Still only 21, the former Watford youngster sprang to prominence last season in scoring 33 times in all competitions for Peterborough United.

That return earned him a 5.5million move to Forest, where the pressure of a major price-tag seems to have had little or no effect.

Ten goals in the Championship is an impressive return in any side, but even more so when you consider that Forest had gone nine league games without a win before a 2-1 victory over Norwich City at the weekend.

Assombalonga was on target in that game and his goals will be crucial if Forest are to challenge for a return to the Premier League, but should they fail, then the young frontman is likely to be heading onwards and upwards in any case.