With the sides at the bottom of the Championship looking fairly weak as far as a 2023/24 League One automatic promotion push is concerned, teams like Charlton Athletic and Portsmouth will be hoping that three of the third tier's financial big-hitters can win promotion, so they are not involved in the battle at the top next season.

That trio would definitely involve Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town, along with potentially Bolton Wanderers or Derby County, as the latter duo would be in and amongst the sides fancied for a top two finish next term if they do not make the leap to the second tier this time around.

Neither the Addicks nor Pompey, with significant uncertainty around who will be running the former next term, are under an ownership group who can throw their weight around in the transfer market as Wednesday, Ipswich and Bolton have in recent transfer windows.

Therefore, an automatic promotion push from either of the two may not come until the aforementioned trio are no longer in competition.

Charlton and Pompey will need to be smart about their recruitment, though John Mousinho's men are in a far better position to do so at the time of writing, similar to how the likes of Plymouth Argyle, Rotherham United and Peterborough United have operated in the last few seasons.

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi is set to leave a gaping hole in the Addicks' attacking contingent when he returns to Crystal Palace in the summer, while Pompey will also be pursuing forwards as Owen Dale, Dane Scarlett and Joe Pigott's loans are set to expire, and Ronan Curtis has picked up a long term injury.

The next step in Jay Stansfield's development and natural progression may be to join a League One side with more realistic promotion ambitions than Exeter City.

There could be more lucrative options in the third tier available to Fulham in facilitating another loan move next term, but Charlton and Pompey's geographic locations make them obvious fits.

The Addicks are relatively close to Fulham where Pompey are one of a few League One clubs that are nearer to Stansfield's Devon roots than the others.

Admittedly, Stansfield has run out of steam a touch as the season has gone on after his initially exceptional adaptation to the division.

But that drop-off only befits that of Exeter City as a team and there has been more than enough promise in his displays, four goals, five assists and 23 league starts, to suggest that Stansfield's next logical step would be a loan move to a more capable third tier side.

The Addicks and Pompey fit that bill and should already be sounding out what a season-long loan switch could look like with the Cottagers.