Hughes: The Quality Of The Championship Is Only Getting Better

Will Hughes feels the overall quality of the Sky Bet Championship is getting better with every passing season, with the 2017/18 campaign looking likely to be the most competitive yet.

The second tier’s line-up is now confirmed for next campaign after Huddersfield Town defeated Reading 4-3 on penalties in the Play-Off Final showpiece at Wembley Stadium to join Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion in next season’s Premier League.

Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull City have dropped down from the Premier League, whilst Sheffield United, Bolton Wanderers and Millwall were promoted from League 1.

For different reasons, Hughes, the 22-year-old midfielder, feels all six will be strong additions in a cut-throat division that on the face of it, appears to have very little separating all 24 teams.

The England Under-21s international told RamsTV: “They get tougher every season. I know it is easy to say that, but with the teams that are coming up from League 1, they will be coming up with no fear and I think the overall quality is also starting to get a lot better.

“It’s still a very physical league, but there are a lot more teams that want to play football. You also have the teams coming down from the Premier League, having just played against a lot of the best players in the world, and that’s only going to help them.

“If those three teams can keep the core of their players, they will be strong.”

Hughes also took time out to assess the pressure of expectation that has been placed on Derby County over the last three seasons.

Particularly since reaching the showpiece Play-Off Final in 2014, the Academy graduate feels the club has ‘underachieved massively’.

With no forgone conclusions guaranteed, Hughes says the Rams, under Gary Rowett’s guidance, need to earn the right to reach the Premier League.

He added: “Sometimes it’s a good expectation, but on the flip side, sometimes it’s a bad one.

“I remember when we got to the Play-Off Final in 2014 after not really being expected to achieve much that season, but from that, the following three seasons we have been expected to go up.

“We have underachieved massively. Everyone knows that the Championship is not an easy league to compete in; it’s very difficult and there’s never a forgone conclusion that we should be in the top two. We have to earn that right.”