NEIL Lennon believes the quality of football in the Championship has improved considerably since he last played in the second tier.

Before arriving as Wanderers boss, the Northern Irishman’s last spell in the division came as a midfielder for Leicester City, which ended with success against Crystal Palace in the 1996 play-off final.

But Lennon reckons the diversity of styles in the league makes the modern day challenge of gaining promotion all the more difficult than it was in his playing days.

“There’s a different variety of games each week,” he said. “What has impressed me so far with the Championship is the amount of football that teams try to play, the pitches are beautiful.

“When I played back in the early 90s it was 4-4-2, get it into the channels and cross it, none of the teams who are trying to play like Bournemouth, Watford, Charlton, Leeds, Nottingham Forest – and maybe that might be the European influence that has come into the Championship over the last few years.

“It’s not the crash, bang, wallop that it used to be.”

Lennon has won four of his first six games in charge at the Macron Stadium and lifted the club out of the bottom three but foresees plenty of work ahead.

“We’ve got off to a reasonable start, I’m not getting carried away, but I’m really enjoying working back in England again,” he said.