Fulham's return to Championship football did not go according to plan on Sunday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Middlesbrough at Craven Cottage. Boro manager Neil Warnock told the Yorkshire Post where he sees the Cottagers ending up this campaign.

Marco Silva's Fulham are the bookmaker's favourites to win the Championship title and get back to the top-flight at the first time of asking this season.

Harry Wilson scored the opener in the 29th minute on Sunday, repaying a small part of the £12.6million the club paid to bring him in from Liverpool, according to Transfermarkt, demonstrating the gap in disposable income between the two sides.

Wilson's transfer fee was comfortably more than Boro's entire summer spending up to this point and yet Neil Warnock's men were still able to deny the hosts the opening day win. The 72-year-old expects the Cottagers to be right up there by the end of the season.

Warnock said: "Let’s be honest, (Fulham) are a good squad and have good players who weren’t even in the squad, so anyone who finishes above them will get promotion.

"Fulham have individuals far better than us but as a team I think we showed that togetherness and desire that will stand us in good stead and which you need in the Championship."

None of the three clubs who have just come down from the Premier League took three points from matchday one with West Bromwich Albion sharing the spoils 2-2 at Bournemouth and Sheffield United's downward trajectory continuing with a 1-0 home defeat to Birmingham City.

It is an interesting debate that Warnock throws up, with Fulham clear they still have a lot of work to do if they are to be the front runners of the campaign.

The Verdict

Warnock loves to take the pressure off of his teams in post-match interviews, therefore talking up Fulham's promotion prospects is not a surprising reaction from the 72-year-old.

Subtly increasing the perception of his side's result, however in this instance he is bang on the money, with the comparative transfer and wage budgets combined with the strength of their squad the Cottagers should be achieving automatic promotion this season.

Therefore Warnock is correct to point out the gap in finances between the two clubs in lauding the terrific point he gained from Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon. An excellent result and platform for Boro to build on in this initial run of matches.