Burton Albion defied all expectations to remain in the Championship last season, and welcome Cardiff City to the Pirelli Stadium to kick off their second ever season in the second tier of English football.

Boss Nigel Clough has already excited Burton fans this summer by smashing the club’s transfer record to sign SPL top scorer Liam Boyce from Ross County, and has backed up this addition with the defensive acquisitions of Jake Buxton and Stephen Warnock.

Cardiff gaffer Neil Warnock moved early this summer, and completed all of his summer transfer activity so far before the window even opened.

Rotherham top scorer Danny Ward joined in an undisclosed deal, and Lee Camp, Neil Etheridge, Callum Paterson and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing were the other men to link up with the Bluebirds at the conclusion of the season.

Mendez-Laing is a tricky winger who enjoyed a great spell in League One with Rochdale, and it will be interesting to see how the 25 year old adapts to the demands of Championship football.

Warnock may look for further midfield reinforcements, with the long serving Peter Whittingham departing for Blackburn, and Tom Adeyemi and Emyr Huws also leaving the club in recent weeks.

Burton avoided the drop by just a single point last season, and with the Championship expected to be extremely competitive next year, the Brewers will find their second campaign in the division extremely tough.

Adding goals to the team in Boyce is a real coup for Clough, and the same can be said for Warnock’s swoop for Ward, with the 26 year impressing in a poor Rotherham side.

The Pirelli matchup next month will be tough to call, with both sides looking quite matched at this stage of the summer.

Home advantage may give Burton the edge if they were to play the game tomorrow, but this current Cardiff squad has enough about them to escape the game with a draw.

Good business by both managers so far, further acquisition are needed if these clubs are to improve on last season’s finishes.