Tony Pulis reveals advantage Ipswich Town have over Leicester City and Southampton | OneFootball

Tony Pulis has backed Ipswich Town to perform better than Leicester City and Southampton in the Championship next season.

Former Stoke City and West Brom manager Tony Pulis believes Ipswich Town could have a better chance of success in the Championship next season than fellow relegated sides Leicester City and Southampton.

Southampton suffered the earliest ever relegation from the Premier League when they were consigned to the drop with seven games still to play last month, and they were swiftly followed by Leicester and Ipswich, meaning that, for the second consecutive season, all three promoted teams have gone straight back down.

While Southampton managed to avoid the record for the lowest ever top flight points total when they picked up their 12th point of the season in their surprise 0-0 draw at home to Manchester City on Saturday, it has still been a dismal season for the Saints, and they are currently without a manager after parting company with Ivan Juric last month.

Leicester also secured a positive result at the weekend with a 2-2 draw against Champions League hopefuls Nottingham Forest, but there is still huge uncertainty over the future of manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Sean Dyche, Lee Carsley, Russell Martin, Danny Rohl and Liam Manning are all believed to be possible contenders to replace the Dutchman should the Foxes decide to make a change.

Ipswich have found life in the Premier League tough after securing back-to-back promotions from League One to the top flight, but unlike the other two relegated clubs, there will be some stability at Portman Road next season, with manager Kieran McKenna recently confirming that he will be remaining in charge in the Championship.

Tony Pulis delivers Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton promotion verdict

Speaking to OLBG, Pulis claimed that McKenna will emerge as a stronger manager despite his side's relegation, and he believes that, out of Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton, the Tractor Boys will have the best chance of making an immediate return to the Premier League.

"I think out of the teams going down, Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich, I think Ipswich are most prepared squad-wise to compete in the Championship," Pulis said.

"Kieran McKenna is a young manager and he's had great success with two promotions. Now he's just got a relegation against his name but I think he'll be a better manager for it.

"Out of the three teams that have gone down at the moment, if you were going to say to me which teams you think would bounce back, I'd most probably say they've got the players to do that better at this present moment than Leicester and Southampton."

It is difficult to disagree with Pulis that Ipswich are the best equipped of the three relegated sides to challenge for promotion in the Championship next season, and they have two big advantages over Leicester and Southampton.

While there is plenty of uncertainty surrounding the managerial situations at the King Power Stadium and St Mary's, the Tractor Boys have no such concerns with McKenna already having committed his future to the club, and the 38-year-old has proven himself to be an outstanding manager in the second tier.

After signing plenty of Championship stars last summer following promotion, including the likes of Jacob Greaves, Sammie Szmodics, Jaden Philogene and Jack Clarke, Ipswich's squad already looks set to be one of the strongest in the division next season, and while they will almost certainly lose star striker Liam Delap, they will not be facing anywhere near as big a rebuild as both Leicester and Southampton.