'Why shouldn't they be real strong candidates?' - Wrexham backed to complete FOURTH successive promotion and reach the Premier League with Tom Brady's Birmingham tipped to mount serious Championship challenge alongside them

Former Aston Villa star Lee Hendrie sees no reason why newly-promoted League One sides Wrexham and Birmingham can't challenge for promotion to the Premier League next season. The ex-midfielder feels both teams have the financial backing to secure yet another promotion, this time in 2026.

He told Football League World: “I think the spending power always comes into it. I think that favours them being promoted, so they're in a really good position and predicament. After what Wrexham and Birmingham have done last season, why shouldn't they be real strong candidates of going and getting promoted again?

"I think that we see teams coming out of League One, and they probably haven't got the money and the strong incentives to bring in players that can have that bounce factor to go again. This is a different case with Wrexham and Birmingham City. I feel that they'll be amongst play-offs, and there is a big case to say that they'll go up automatically. However, that all depends on the teams that are coming down and the investments there, but I do feel that they have real strong stakes, both of them clubs, to go and get a promotion again, be it play-offs or automatically."

Wrexham already made history by securing an historic third-straight promotion last month, and Birmingham broke the points record for a single professional season as they romped to the League One title. Due to the players they have and the financial might at their disposal, not many would be surprised to see them competing at the top end of the Championship next season.

Before that, Wrexham and Birmingham round off their seasons against Lincoln City and Cambridge United, respectively, on Saturday.