How Sunderland's early Championship opponents are shaping up and what fans can expect

Sunderland learned their fixture schedule for the new Championship season on Wednesday morning. They'll play four fixtures in August and one more before the initial international break and the transfer window closes, as Regis Le Bris looks to make a fast start to his time at the helm.

So how are those first five opponents shaping up for the new campaign and what can Sunderland fans expect? Here, we run you through all you need to know...

CARDIFF CITY (A)

Manager: Erol Bulut

Transfers in: N/A

Transfers out: Romaine Sawyers, Sheyi Ojo, Rohan Luthra, Oliver Denham (Released)

Story so far: The summer has so far been dominated by uncertainty of Bulut's future, which has only recently been resolved. Bulut enjoyed a successful first campaign at the club in that they were never in any danger of relegation and enjoyed far more stability than they had done across previous campaigns. Set against that was some fan frustration with the style of play and some long runs of poor form. That led to a prolonged debate as to whether Bulut would be awarded a new deal, but that has now happened and Cardiff's hope is that stability will enable them to kick on next season. They have strong young talent coming through but face a big challenge replacing the loanees who played a lot of minutes for them last time out. Not fancied at the moment to trouble the top of the table by the bookies but it's not an easy start, either.

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (H)

Head coach: Danny Rohl

Transfers in: Max Lowe (Sheffield United), Ben Hamer (Watford), Yan Valery (Angers)

Transfers out: Tyreeq Bakinson, George Byers, Juan Delgado, Reece James, Lee Gregory (Released)

Story so far: The most important bit of business for Sheffield Wednesday this summer was to retain the services of Danny Rohl, who had turned their season around and was attracting interest for a number of clubs - including Sunderland. After positive talks with chairman Dejphon Chansiri, Rohl decided not just to stay but to agree a new contract. That means Wednesday are looking ahead to the new campaign with real optimism. They've made a strong early start to the window by adding some real quality and depth in the full back positions. There are still some big doubts over some out-of-contract players, including Josh Windass and Di'Shon Bernard. They will need more strengthening if they are to push into the top half but we saw on the final day of the season how well organised and dangerous they can be under Rohl.

BURNLEY (H)

Head coach: N/A

Transfers in: Mike Tresor, Maxime Esteve

Transfers out: Jack Cork, Johann Berg Gudmundsson (Released)

Story so far: Burnley had hoped to bounce back quickly from their relegation from the Premier League but their hopes for real stability were rocked when Bayern Munich made a surprise approach to make Vincent Kompany their new head coach. The search for Kompany's successor is ongoing and though Ruud van Nistelrooy emerged as a strong candidate, he is now widely expected to join Erik ten Hag's staff at Manchester United. Kompany's former assistant Craig Bellamy and Scott Parker are the frontrunners as it stands, while former Sunderland candidate Liam Rosenior is also known to have held talks. Whoever the new boss will inherit a squad stacked with talent at the level, but also a squad in a significant state of flux as so many loanees return. They'll almost certainly be contenders for the title but it might not be the worst time to play them when the window is open and the club is still in something of a transitional period.

PORTSMOUTH (A)

Head coach: John Mousinho

Transfers in: Josh Murphy, Jordan Williams

Transfers out: Sean Raggett, Joe Rafferty, Lee Evans, Josh Martin, Matt Macey, Ryan Schofield, Haji Mnoga, Harry Jewitt-White, Liam Vincent, Josh Dockerill (Released)

Story so far: Mousinho's first full season as a head coach was a spectacular success, as Portsmouth won the League One title and finally sealed their return to the Championship. Though they are not planning for a complete overhaul of their squad, they were ruthless in releasing some key players from that title-winning team to create space for new arrivals. Josh Murphy, the one-time £11-million winger, is an impressive capture after his central role in Oxford United's surge to promotion via the play-offs. Some key gaps in that squad remain mainly as a result of some hugely talented loanees returning to their parent clubs. Pompey are coming up with real momentum and even if their first priority will be to consolidate, they will be a tricky opponent and especially on home turf.

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE (A)

Head coach: Wayne Rooney

Transfers in: Nathanael Ogbeta (Swansea City)

Transfers out: Callum Burton, Jack Endacott, Oscar Halls (Released)

Story so far: The departure of influential head coach Steven Schumacher for Stoke City last season meant a strong start gave way to very real relegation fears by the end of the campaign. After just staying up Plymouth sprung a surprise in appointing Wayne Rooney as their new head coach, with the legendary striker eager to prove his worth after a dismal spell at Birmingham City.

THE VERDICT

It's clearly a relatively kind fixture list to begin the season for Le Bris. Burnley will be heavy favourites to bounce straight back but of the others, only Cardiff City finished in the top half last season (and that was in 12th). There's a chance for Sunderland to build some momentum but there is a significant caveat here, many of those teams will rightly expect to be far stronger this time around and particularly away from home will be tricky opponents. The sheer amount of travel in the opening month of the season will be a headache for the Black Cats, particularly when you factor in the early rounds of the Carabao Cup.