After all of the enthusiasm and champagne corks popping by his ears, Paul Warne wasted no time in addressing what is required for life back in the Championship once promotion was secured.

Derby County’s head coach believes his club must improve its athleticism and goal-scoring ability to face the challenges of the upcoming season in a division he considers to be the best ever.

Warne will be a keen observer when the Championship concludes this weekend. Leicester City’s impressive side has already secured their return to the Premier League. Ipswich, last season’s League One champions, are expected to follow them if they can salvage a point against Huddersfield on the last day.

Derby County promotion special

Derby County have made a triumphant return to the Championship, and we want you to join us to celebrate their achievements.

Our Man At The Rams, Leigh Curtis has penned a 48-page special souvenir edition of the Derby Telegraph which is completely dedicated to the remarkable change in fortunesof the club.

A club that has gone from the brink of extinction – to a glorious promotion.

Leigh follows the journey of the season and how a David Clowes owned Derby side managed to rebuild from the Ashes after narrowly missing out in the first season under the new owner and manager Paul Warne.

This season has had drama with highs and lows galore – all culminating in those incredible scenes on the pitch after the game against Carlisle United.

Pride Park was awash with joyous scenes at the final whistle as supporters stormed the pitch to celebrate their first promotion since Billy Davies guided the Rams to the Premier League in 2007.

It’s all in our special edition – which is on sale now for £3.50

Below them are Leeds United, Southampton, Norwich City and West Brom and it has been so competitive that at the other end of the table, Birmingham City are in danger of being relegated. That is certainly not what their new owners Knighthead Capital advertised on the brochure when they moved into St Andrew’s earlier this season.

It does underline how competitive the Championship will be particularly as it is now a league within a league. The relegated sides from the Premier League tend to bounce back immediately helped by their parachute payments although Ipswich under Kieran McKenna have done remarkably well to break that trend.

There is also the gang of clubs hoping to make it to the play-offs while the League One sides who are promoted tend to find themselves fighting to survive which Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth will hope to do providing they take care of their own business.

Derby will aim to consolidate next season and the good news is financially they will generate around another £7m to £8m a year from the new EFL television deal. Eighty per cent of the total goes to the clubs in the Championship, 12 goes to League One while the remainder goes to the fourth tier.

The away ends next season should more or less be sold out given the size of the clubs on the itinerary list, particularly with Sheffield United coming down from the Premier League and the likes of Stoke City just around the corner. That will also generate further revenue for Derby whose gates will no doubt hover around 30,000 or above.

That all sounds good from a financial standpoint, but as football finance expert Kieran Maguire pointed out on BBC Derby on Monday night, it is an “expensive division” to be in. The average wage bill for last season in the Championship was £31m, Derby’s was £17m all in for League One. Money is not the be-all and end-all, but it underlines the stark reality of how ridiculously competitive the Championship is.

It is probably the hardest division there is from which to win promotion. Maguire said that you have to be prepared to spend, but there is no way and no desire by Derby to hark back to the days when they were forking out £10m on a Krystian Bielik. That is why their recruitment needs to be on point this summer.

There will naturally be a few free agents and crucially Derby will no longer be manacled to the conditions agreed with the EFL post-administration. But it is trying to find players that a) give Warne the athleticism he has always craved, b) can handle the challenges of the Championship and c) offer value for money.

That is not going to be easy, but it isn’t impossible. But the club will need a lot of patience to acclimatise back to the division which they once hoped would pave the way for their return to the Premier League. There is a lot of work ahead, but there is no reason to fear the challenge in what promises to be a fascinating but exciting summer of preparation.

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