Carlton Palmer makes audacious Sheffield Wednesday prediction following promotion back to the Championship | OneFootball

They had to do it the hard way despite earning 96 points over the course of the League One season, but Sheffield Wednesday will finally return to the Championship after two years away from the second tier.

Darren Moore's side met South Yorkshire rivals Barnsley at Wembley on Monday afternoon, and after plenty of twists and turns over the course of 120 minutes, a Josh Windass header in the final moments of extra time saw Wednesday run out 1-0 winners.

The Owls must now move quick to build a squad ready for the Championship, and one person who has high hopes for Wednesday going into the 2023-24 season - but perhaps maybe unrealistic ones - is former England international and ex-Owls player Carlton Palmer.

What has Carlton Palmer predicted for Sheffield Wednesday in the 2023-24 season?

Not one to beat around the bush, Palmer has quite incredibly predicted Wednesday - perhaps on the back of their momentum from winning the play-offs - to win promotion AGAIN next season and return to the Premier League in 2024 for the first time in 24 years.

"If you look at it for Darren Moore - it's been two and a half years now, Moore came into the club with 10 games to go, got COVID, was very ill in hospital, they went down on the last day of the (2020-21 season), last season they drew too many games but got to the play-off semi-finals, lost to Sunderland who went on to get promoted, so it's a fantastic story for Darren," Palmer told TalkSPORT.

"You look at it - 96 points, they really should have won the league with that but credit to Ipswich and Plymouth for being relentless in what they did, many teams would have fallen off with the disappointment.

"Then 4-0 away at Peterborough and then to get back in it and then to finish the job off yesterday (at Wembley) - I'm so delighted for Darren Moore.

"Also, having played with the club for nine years, everybody knows I'm a Sheffield Wednesday supporter so I'm delighted for the supporters.

"And trust me, like I said to Simon Jordan, they'll do back-to-back (promotions), I promise you, at the start of the season I said Sheffield United and Wednesday would get promoted and they'll go again next season."

What chance do Sheffield Wednesday have of winning promotion to the Premier League next season?

Whilst it's not impossible by any stretch of the imagination, parachute payments from relegated Premier League clubs make it incredibly difficult for teams coming up from League One to compete at the top end of the division.

Of course, if you have investment it helps and Sunderland showed you can challenge for and finish in the play-offs if your recruitment is right, but will Dejphon Chansiri back Darren Moore this summer?

If he does and Wednesday bring in some exciting players, then sure, they have a small chance of the top six, but for Palmer to predict another promotion in 12 months time is perhaps reaching a little bit.