Last season Brighton, Peterborough and Southampton were promoted to the Championship from League One and all three have carried over their good form into the Championship.

All three have strengthened over the summer and after five games all three teams are in the top half of the table with Southampton and Brighton in the automatic promotion places, with the latter topping the table.

Although it is early in the season the encouraging starts made suggest that these sides could have more than relegation on their minds come May.

Brighton

The Seagulls could not have hoped for a better start to their first season at Falmer Stadium. After winning four of their first five league games, they top the table.

New signings Ryan Harley, Craig Mackail-Smith and Will Buckley have all settled quickly and produced match winning performances as Gus Poyet continues to build and play attractive football.

The highlights so far have been winning the first game at Falmer stadium and beating Premier League Sunderland in the Carling Cup.

Southampton

The Saints won their first four games of the season scoring freely including a memorable 5-2 away victory at Ipswich.

Their last game did end in defeat against Leicester City but even in defeat they showed a fighting spirit that will leave them feeling that they deserved a draw.

Up front strikers David Connolly (4) and Rickie Lambert (3) are in great form with seven goals between them in just five games which could be the firepower they need to maintain their great start to the season.

Peterborough

Despite losses to Blackpool and Brighton the Posh have made a decent start to the season, with a 7-1 rout of Ipswich Town a highlight.

Posh have given their fans hope that they can have a season without the threat of relegation and possibly  push for something more than safety this season.