Former Sheffield Wednesday star Jon Newsome has told The Transfer Tavern that the club will find it immensely difficult to gain promotion back to the Championship after their relegation.

Wednesday ended the season rock-bottom of the Championship table after drawing 3-3 with Derby County on the final day.

In total, Darren Moore’s side took just 41 points from their 46 games, and will now set about planning for a return to the second-tier.

Newsome, though, thinks that Wednesday face a real battle to earn promotion back to the Championship, especially given the financial issues they are facing.

He has revealed that the club have a wage bill worth over £20m, a figure that simply is not sustainable in the third-tier.

Per The Daily Mail, the average wage of the highest earner at each club earns £4,753-per-week.

Per Salary Sport, no fewer than 22 players earn in excess of that amount; Jordan Rhodes earns £35,000-per-week.

As a result, Newsome thinks the club will struggle immensely to find their way back into the second-tier, as a number of players will be offloaded.

He told TT: “Obviously, it’s a really difficult league to get out of. Look at Hull City, who’ve done an amazing job, dropping down last year and they got a promotion the first year back, there’s not many clubs that do that.

“It’s going to be a really difficult task to get that club out, especially when you look at the rotation of the squad, the number of players who are leaving, the high earners.

“They’ve got a massive wage bill at Sheffield Wednesday at the moment, I’m led to believe it’s in excess of £20 million a year as a wage bill. That’s not sustainable in League One.

“The club’s revenue will fall by a minimum of £8 million just by dropping down into that league. There’s going to be a massive turnover of footballers at that club.”