Norwich City will be a major force in the Championship promotion stakes, in the view of rival Wigan boss Uwe Rosler.

The German guided his club to the play-offs last season before losing to eventual winners QPR and Rosler is convinced Neil Adams has the squad to challenge for an instant Premier League return. Rosler also respects the Canaries' recent Championship pedigree after earning promotion in 2011.

'This year will be even harder than last year,' he said, with City scheduled to travel to the Latics on December 6 before a Carrow Road league return on March 3. 'You look at Fulham and Cardiff and financially they have a very big budget whilst Norwich will be very, very competitive, keeping the nucleus of their team and they know what it takes to get promotion.

'This season will not be won in the first ten games, it's a marathon and we have to make sure we are there at the end.'

Wigan failed to bounce back at the first attempt last season and Rosler knows the odds are even tougher this time around.

'There will be teams from last year as well who will get better too so it's only going to get tougher but we knew that and we have to do everything we can do to get out of that league as soon as possible,' he told Wigan's official site. 'The longer you stay in the Championship the more difficult it's to get out because the financial rewards get less and less from the parachute payments and that means you have to play catch up more and more. I think for us next year it's vital for us to have a real go in terms of going to the Premier League.'

Derby look set to challenge as well following their Wembley play-off final defeat and Rams' assistant boss Paul Simpson is not worried by the £60m parachute payments available to relegated trio City, Cardiff and Fulham.

'There are always teams who are starting however many millions better off because of the parachute payments – and that's exactly the same this season,' he said. 'But that doesn't matter – it's about going out and performing how we're capable of. If we do that and get a performance, we know we'll get a result on many occasions.'