It took Sunderland far longer than they ever expected to make a return to the Championship after they were relegated to League One in 2017/18 but promotion was finally secured last weekend as the Black Cats defeated Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 at Wembley. They have now been backed by bookmakers to make a strong return to the second tier.
Oddschecker shows that Alex Neil's side will go into the start of the season with odds of around 20/1 to finish as league winners, seventh favourites in the division, while fellow promoted sides, Wigan Athletic and Rotherham United are expected to find things a lot more difficult as they are predicted to finish 17th and 24th respectively.
Of course, Sunderland fans will be hoping that their side will be pushing for a promotion back to the Premier League as soon as possible but after four seasons in the third tier, they would surely be delighted with a comfortable season securing their status back in the Championship. If they were to push for a play-off place and eventually finish seventh as the bookmakers suggest, that would constitute a very successful return to the league.
Read more: 'Pain made way for pride' - National media react as Sunderland promoted following Wembley success
In Alex Neil, they have a manager who has pedigree in the division, as he won promotion from the Championship with Norwich City in 2015. With some more additions to the squad, they will hope that the bookmakers will be correct and that there will be no threat of relegation from the second tier.
Meanwhile, Watford and Norwich are expected to be in the automatic promotion spots. Reading and Birmingham join Rotherham in the bottom three, according to the bookmakers. The loser of Sunday's play-off final still need to be factored into rhe equation, of course, with either Nottingham Forest or Huddersfield providing tough competition.
Sunderland are price at just 6/1 to win promotion and 5/2 to finish in the top six and book a place in the play-offs. The Black Cats only spent one season in the Championship for all the wrong reasons last time - but can they storm to promotion this time? The bookies certainly think they have a chance.
2022-23 Championship winners odds
Watford 7/1
Norwich 8/1
West Brom 9/1
Burnley 10/1
Middlesbrough 10/1
Sheffield Utd 12/1
Swansea 16/1
Stoke 20/1
Sunderland 20/1
Coventry 25/1
Blackburn 25/1
Cardiff 25/1
QPR 25/1
Millwall 28/1
Hull 33/1
Luton 33/1
Wigan 40/1
Bristol City 40/1
Blackpool 40/1
Preston 40/1
Birmingham 50/1
Reading 50/1
Rotherham 100\1
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