"?Former Sheffield Wednesday star Carlton Palmer has admitted his former side may find it difficult to automatically get promoted to the Premier League with Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Norwich dropping down a league.
Palmer told the Star: "It will be a tough ask for Wednesday to finish in the top two,"? he told The Star.
"People have got to be careful not to get carried away after last season and start talking about automatic promotion.
"There needs to be calm and not too much expectation. The Championship is an unpredictable and difficult league to get out of. Anybody can beat anybody.
"It takes a lot of money to get out of that division and there are some big clubs who have come down in Newcastle and Villa who have got the parachute payments.
"I would expect Newcastle and Villa to spend big and I'm sure Brighton and Derby will be there or thereabouts again as well."?
Palmer, who made over 200 appearances for the Owls believes Carlos Carvalhal's side are more than capable of securing a play-off place.
"I'm cautiously optimistic that they can have another great season,"? Palmer admitted.
"Wednesday had a fantastic home record last year so they just need to improve their away form a little bit to kick on.
"They have got some good players and played some great football last season but I still think they over-achieved in finishing sixth so you can't knock them.
"It would be brilliant if they managed to get in the play-offs again."?
"?"?