FA Cup final hero Ben Watson was on the mark as Wigan got their bid for an immediate return to the Premier League off to an impressive start with a 4-0 mauling of 10-man Barnsley at Oakwell.
Watson, who was the Wembley match-winner against Manchester City in May, put Wigan 1-0 up with a fine first-half finish and three more goals after the break sealed a comprehensive victory for new manager Owen Coyle and his men.
Summer signing Grant Holt netted 10 minutes after the interval to make it 2-0 before Barnsley lost Dale Jennings to a 66th-minute sending off, and Wigan then added further goals in the last 10 minutes through Leon Barnett and Shaun Maloney.
The two other sides relegated from the top flight last season also enjoyed winning starts to life in the Sky Bet Championship, with QPR and Reading both claiming 2-1 home victories.
QPR, considered favourites for promotion, fell behind against Sheffield Wednesday when Atdhe Nuhiu netted in the 19th minute but Harry Redknapp's men bounced back to claim the spoils with two goals in three minutes just before half-time through Nedum Onuoha and Andrew Johnson
Reading also needed to come from behind to beat Ipswich at the Madejski Stadium, Adam Le Fondre (45) and Danny Guthrie (75) cancelling out a 16th-minute opener from former Royals midfielder Jay Tabb.
It was a memorable day for promoted Yeovil who, playing at this level for their first time in their history, claimed a 1-0 win at Millwall thanks to Edward Upson's late strike.
Bournemouth, who came up from League One alongside Yeovil, were also celebrating a win as a brace from Lewis Grabban earned them a 2-1 home triumph over Charlton.
Charlton had equalised through Yann Kermorgant's stunning scissor-kick but their hopes of getting anything out of the game suffered a blow when Bradley Pritchard was dismissed.
League One champions Doncaster could not complete the set for the division newcomers as they lost 3-1 at home to Blackpool.
Source: PA
