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It was a chaotic day in the Championship on Monday as the relegation tussle, play-off race and promotion battle all wrote new chapters.
Leeds United thrashed Stoke City 6-0 in the earlier kick-off as Joel Piroe made history with four first-half strikes at Elland Road.
That convincing win for the Whites took them to the brink of promotion, and then Burnley’s 2-1 victory over Sheffield United sealed the deal for both sides.
Burnley and Leeds have confirmed their places in the 2025/26 Premier League campaign, pipping Chris Wilder’s Blades to the post.
But, once the celebrations blow over and the Championship season draws to a close, hard work will begin over the summer to readily equip themselves for what is a daunting challenge.
Joe Hart’s verdict on Leeds United and Burnley’s Premier League survival chances
In recent years, it’s been a miserable time for promoted sides going up to the top-flight. The gap between the Championship and Premier League is the biggest it’s ever been.
Southampton and Leicester City were relegated to the Championship, with Ipswich Town soon to follow them, seeing all three promoted clubs instantly return to the second tier.
Worryingly, it’s the second year in a row this has happened, but former Burnley goalkeeper Joe Hart believes Daniel Farke and Scott Parker will learn from those who have gone up recently, suggesting we’ll see a different approach.
“He’s [Scott Parker] has made it absolutely clear that he wants a rock solid team,” Hart said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “I’ve just seen on the monitor that’s his third promotion, that’s impressive. He knows what to do in that Championship and he knows how to win games.
“There’s no way he’s going to come away from that next season, no way, especially after what he’s seen in the last two seasons from newly promoted sides. I think we’re going to see a totally different approach from the promoted sides.
“I think fans are going to have to get on board that their teams are really going to be looking to grind out results and earn their status in the Premier League.
“It’s just that optimism of coming into the Premier League, we’re really going to establish ourselves and put our football on the map from day one.”
Roy Keane’s warning to promoted clubs
Teams that have been promoted to the Premier League recently have often tried to play the same way in the top-flight, and it doesn’t work.
Under Vincent Kompany, Burnley continued to try playing total football, and they were caught out against world-class opposition, as were Southampton this season.
Burnley and Leeds must grind out results in the top-flight, and Roy Keane has already sent a warning to the promoted clubs, urging them to be ‘harder to beat’.
“The teams that come up have to make a better effort. I know, of course, it’s going to be hard to stay up. I was there with Sunderland — of course, it’s going to be hard,” Keane said.
“I think a lot of them are overplaying. Southampton, certainly, at the start of the season were caught out. You can be harder to beat! Be harder to beat!”