Neil Warnock sends warning to West Ham, Wolves and Burnley | OneFootball

Neil Warnock has offered a warning to West Ham, Wolves and Burnley ahead of their Championship return

Neil Warnock has warned West Ham, Wolves and Burnley that there will be no easy games in their bid for promotion this season.

The Championship returns on Friday night with the Old Gold hosting their first league game at this level since 2018.

The Midlands outfit will welcome Blackburn Rovers to Molineux, where they will they will look to get their promotion bid off to a winning start.

Cesar Peixoto has taken over the first team squad this summer, making the leap into English football for the first time in his career.

Meanwhile, Nuno Espírito Santo is leading West Ham into the second tier, where he will be hoping to repeat their 2012 promotion success from their last top flight relegation in 2011.

And Burnley have returned to the Championship immediately after coming second in the table in 2025, with Nicky Hayen now in charge at Turf Moor.

Neil Warnock issues warning to Burnley, West Ham, Wolves

Action Images

Warnock has previewed the upcoming campaign, warning the recently-relegated sides that they won’t have it their own way this season.

He believes that teams who aren’t currently fancied for promotion will surprise people, and make it hard for this trio to earn their place back in the Premier League at the first attempt.

“Yes, of course, money counts in the Championship,” said Warnock, via The Athletic.

“And the three teams coming down are always going to be firm favourites to go straight back up.

“But the Championship is about so much more than that.

“It is a hard league with hardly any breaks, totally relentless.

“And there’s no such thing as an easy game, with the bottom teams capable of beating the top every week.

“That’s why teams like mine, who most didn’t fancy at the start of the season, were able to win those four promotions.”

The 77-year-old has earned eight promotions in his managerial career, which is more than any other coach in English football history.

So it’s fair to say that the veteran coach knows a thing or two about what it takes to earn a place in the Premier League.

The ones to watch in the promotion battle

Middlesbrough lost in the play-off final last season, but have since strengthened Kim Hellberg’s side over the summer.

Southampton will also expect to be in the mix for a top two place despite starting the season on minus four points due to breaching the EFL’s rules.

And clubs like Norwich City, Derby County, Wrexham and Birmingham City will all also want to battle for a top eight place, along with the likes of Bristol City.

There are also likely to be surprise packages along the way in what could be a fiercely contended Championship campaign.

Burnley, West Ham and Wolves have all had tricky summers, and have lost key players since suffering relegation.

Last season also saw clubs like Hull City and Coventry City break into the top flight after long spells out of the division, and that could happen again in 2026/27.

Action Images

Promotion battle won’t be straightforward in 2026/27

West Ham and Wolves are natural favourites to be in the mix for automatic promotion given their pedigree of top flight football.

But Middlesbrough and Southampton should both be in contention, and will make things quite interesting at the top this season.

Norwich had a strong end to the previous campaign, and could be up there as well, as could Derby.

The battle at the top was quite intense for much of 2025/26 before Coventry pulled away, and we could see something quite similar over the coming several months.