Neil Warnock was taken aback by Leeds United, Leicester City, and Ipswich Town all winning over the Easter weekend, despite high praise for Kieran McKenna’s side’s title challenge.
The renowned manager maintained Leicester should remain favourites for promotion, but did not rule out Leeds or Ipswich as he enthused about the excitement of the Championship.
Warnock was quick to applaud Ipswich for keeping up with Leeds and Leicester, which he describes as “massive” football clubs with massive squads and budgets compared to the Tractor Boys.
Warnock told talkSPORT [08:42]: “The enthusiasm we’ve had with the Championship throughout the Easter time has been amazing.
“They’ve all passed the tests, the top three, but it’s interesting to see how they did in some of the games.
“Leicester should improve, but when you look at it now, Ipswich have always been written off by the analysts. McKenna has done an excellent job.
“I know they’ve spent a bit of money, but in comparison with Leeds and Leicester, they’re massive clubs with massive squads.”
Championship promotion battle is fiercely contested at the top.
With only six games remaining, the top three teams are separated by two points, and it is unclear which will be forced to descend into the playoffs, risking their chances of Premier League promotion.
Leicester’s game in hand over both Leeds and Ipswich could see them return to top position with a win, while Leeds would fall out of the automatic promotion places and face the playoffs – a situation no one at the club wants to risk.
After all three teams won again over the long weekend, the speed at the top has been extraordinary, and whoever of the three teams misses out on immediate promotion will consider themselves quite unlucky.
Warnock is not the first to compliment Ipswich, who have emerged as the surprise package in the promotion battle, but Leeds will be hoping that their financial might gives them an advantage over their rivals.