By Pat Nevin Former Chelsea and Scotland star

When the Premiership relegation battle is being discussed, all eyes usually instantly turn to the three clubs that came up from the Championship.

And yes, I think Sunderland, Wigan and West Ham will be among those fighting for survival at the end of the season.

But I don't think it will be a foregone conclusion who will be relegated and I actually don't think any team will be cut adrift from the rest.

I also think some of the "middling" Premiership teams could be drawn in.

Of course Wigan will be the first team everyone looks to when they search for relegation candidates, just because of their name as much as anything else.

But there is absolutely no pressure on Wigan at all. They can attack the season with a real sense of freedom.

If they go down, it will surprise no-one, and if they stay up they would have achieved the impossible.

But I have to say I like the way their team is set up and think they have a very good manager in Paul Jewell.

I know Lee McCulloch from Motherwell and Alan Mahon from Tranmere, and would love them to do well.

Wigan's big players have to perform, and a lot depends on how Jason Roberts and Nathan Ellington adapt.

If they can repeat the goalscoring feats that took them to promotion, then Wigan have a chance of survival.

I just get the feeling they won't have enough to stay up, but I certainly do not feel they will be left behind as the race to stay up develops.

There has been talk of Wigan having �25m to spend, but it was always going to be difficult to attract really high-profile players.

What I will stress is that Wigan have the least pressure to deal with.

They have been improving for years. They have a winning habit, they are used to winning, and they will regard that as a good starting point.

As I said, I think much depends on Ellington and Roberts, but I do worry about their strength defensively.

Out of the promoted clubs, I feel West Ham have the best chance to sneak it and stay in the top flight.

And they will be under most pressure to do so because they are a club with real Premiership pedigree and fans who expect them to be in the Premiership.

They have bought well, bringing in people like Paul Konchesky from Charlton. They have a chance.

They appear to want to give it a go, and I think if things go their way they could survive the crucial first season.

Sunderland have not spent a lot of money, but they have brought in some sound purchases such as the young striker Jon Stead from Blackburn.

They have also brought in the Ipswich duo of Kelvin Davis and Tommy Miller, and Mick McCarthy is a good manager with sound, simplistic methods.

And I think there is another ingredient that will make the season interesting.

There will be games when those battling at the bottom of the table will be optimistic of getting key results.

There is a big gap between Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and the other teams.

They won't expect to get much from those games, but then there is a clutch of teams around the middle and towards the bottom who could beat each other.

And this means there will be teams other than those promoted who could end up with a fight on their hands.

I would name West Brom as the other team who I would expect to be battling to stay in the Premiership.

They performed an incredible escape last season, but you just don't get the feeling they are an established Premiership club just yet.

There are then that group of clubs who may get pulled back into the strugglers and maybe into relegation trouble.

It will be interesting to see how Portsmouth go without Harry Redknapp and their main striker Yakubu.

And then you have Fulham, Blackburn and Birmingham who will be anxious to keep themselves out of trouble.

If you were asking me to name one club who will not do as well as they would hope, then at this stage I would have to go for Newcastle United.

I just don't think they have repaired as well as they needed to after a very disappointing season last year.

They have lost players like Aaron Hughes and Andy O'Brien, who could do a solid job for them.

And they still have so much emphasis on Alan Shearer. I think they would rather they didn't and so would he.

I sense maybe their fans are anxious as well about how they will go this term.

So my early prediction would be pretty much as you would expect, with the three teams that have come up battling to survive - but I qualify that.

And I qualify it by saying that I do not expect anyone to be cut adrift and can see other clubs getting involved.

I do not expect it to be a cut and dried affair by any means.