After securing promotion to the Championship via the play-offs last year, it was always going to be intriguing to see how Blackpool would fare at this level under the guidance of head coach Neil Critchley.

Despite the fact that they only managed to win one of their opening seven league games, the Seasiders quickly adapted to life in the division and have gone on to produce a host of encouraging performances.

Particularly impressive against Birmingham City earlier this week, Blackpool completely outclassed their opponents at Bloomfield Road as they sealed a 6-1 victory.

Set to face Luton Town on Saturday, it will be interesting to see whether the Seasiders are able to use the confidence gained from their triumph over the Blues to their advantage at Kenilworth Road.

Here, using data gathered from Kieran Maguire, we have decided to take a look at how much Blackpool's squad costs compared to other teams in the Championship...

When you consider that Blackpool are currently 16th in the Championship standings, it is fair to say that they are exceeding expectations based upon these statistics.

The Tangerines have spent the least amount of money on their squad in the second-tier which is relatively understandable given that they were playing in League One last season.

In contrast to Blackpool, Stoke City have spent £145.4m on players and are currently on course to finish two places above Critchley's side in the Championship standings.

Whereas Derby's figures can be considered as an anomaly due to the fact they are based on their 2018 accounts, their risk to splash £62.5m on players in order to have a chance of reaching the Premier League hasn't paid off as they were relegated to the third-tier on Monday.

Like Blackpool, Luton are punching above their weight if this data is anything to go by as despite only forking out £3.4m on players, they are currently on course to secure a play-off place in the Championship.

As for Fulham, who have already been promoted to the Premier League, their ability to spend £233m has unquestionably helped them achieve this particular goal.

However, whether the Cottagers are able to retain a place in the top-flight in the future remains to be seen as they may have to buy some more players this summer in order to be competitive at this level.