Saints' top gun makes them favourite, says Swindon boss

The good news for League One managers is that Leeds are no longer on their fixture list.

The bad news is they must replace one Yorkshire giant with another after Sheffield Wednesday came down.

So the division that gets dominated by the mighty who have fallen won’t be any easier when the new season kicks off.

Swindon boss Danny ­Wilson is certainly bracing himself for another tough campaign after picking up his team a few weeks after they just missed out on ­promotion by losing the play-off final to Millwall.

He thinks his old club at Hillsborough will be strong, but rates another ex-Premier League club as the big ­favourites to dominate the division this time.

Wilson, whose own chances will be handicapped after ­26-goal top scorer Billy ­Paynter left on a free transfer to Leeds, names ­Southampton as the side most likely to be top of the pile.

Wilson said: “They are the big ­bookies’ favourites and it isn’t surprising.

“They’ve kept Ricky ­Lambert, who got 30 goals in the ­division last year, but he’s not the only ­prolific scorer ­because they also have Adam Lallana and David ­Connolly.

“Alan Pardew has addressed his squad at both ends of the pitch, though, when you look at somebody like Radhi Jaidi and recruits like Frazer ­Richardson ­coming in.

“He has top quality throughout the squad and they will be bang-on certainties to be ­promoted, particularly with the experience from last year.”

Wilson expects Wednesday under Alan Irvine to have been reorganised after adding Clinton Morrison and Tommy Miller, but reckons the rest of the league will be every bit as hard fought.

He said: “Leeds and Norwich pulled clear of the pack, but after that everybody else could beat everyone. That was shown by the fact the final promotion place wasn’t ­settled until the last day of the season, when you had just four points separating four teams.

“I think Huddersfield will be strong again, Charlton should be up there, ­despite having lost players and having a few problems, and I’d like to think we will be in the mix too.”

If it’s tough at the top of the division it’s every bit as hard at the bottom, where ­Gillingham went down in May despite collecting 50 points.

Wilson said: “That was ­always considered the safety target, but in a league that is so close it means the points get shared out far more evenly.

“You’ve got to look at the sides with goalscorers.

“That’s why I think Notts County should establish themselves fairly successfully because they still have Lee Hughes who got 30 in 39 games getting promoted last year.

“They should also have more stability after all the questions that were being asked about their ­finances.

“The one thing you can be sure of is that there will be some good ­football played.

“I think it was great that more of the ­matches were featured on TV last season because it showed a few people about the division.

“There are some good ­players, some very big clubs who want to get back to the Premier League never mind the Championship.

“I think some of the games featuring the likes of Leeds, Charlton and ourselves opened people’s eyes that it is now not all kick and rush.”