WHEN Middlesbrough begin their Championship challenge on Sunday, Stewart Downing will be lining up at Deepdale embarking on a new chapter in a career which has seen him spend the majority of time in the Premier League.

At a time when Lee Tomlin has stepped up to the top-flight after Bournemouth’s £3.5m bid was accepted at the Riverside, Downing has no regrets about his decision to turn his back on the elite and return to his roots when he is still in his prime.

It will be only this weekend when he truly realises what he has gambled on and left behind.

Downing will be live on TV this Sunday lunchtime but rather than facing Preston North End he would, had he stayed at West Ham United, be hoping to start against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. It is not something that has concerned him, but he is determined to make sure that those top-flight occasions are not a thing of the past.

The 31-year-old said: “I don't want to be in the Championship for the rest of my career. I came here because the manager thinks we can get up, it was a new challenge for me and I think we're strong enough to get up.

“So if I have to do it for one season - that's in my mind, one season and that's it, anything longer than that is not what I’d been hoping for ... promotion is all we have to think about, that's all the manager stresses, promotion.”

It emerged yesterday that Tomlin has swapped places with Downing in the Premier League. Tomlin, 26, has been the subject of interest from the Cherries and Norwich City, but the Championship champions struck a deal first and he leaves 18 months after moving from Peterborough for £1.5m.

The step up his a huge one, but Tomlin has always been convinced he can handle the big stage and he has been determined to showcase his skills in the Premier League. He did not train yesterday and Aitor Karanka will use the extra cash to strengthen the push to sign Blackburn’s Jordan Rhodes.

He could figure against Aston Villa this Saturday, while his former team-mates press ahead with preparations for the trip to Preston the following day.

Downing has been a Premier League player since bursting on to the scene in 2001 and he is relishing rather than regretting the prospect of driving for success in the Championship.

He said: “I've not really thought about it (playing at Preston instead of Arsenal on Sunday). You can't hide the quality, obviously. Arsenal's quality means they would beat anyone in the Championship, you can't hide that.

“For me, I wanted this move, I wanted to come here and play so I'm not thinking about what they're doing I'm thinking about doing my best for Middlesbrough. I have to perform here, I can't just think just going to come here and it will just happen like that.

“It's probably harder to create space in this league than it is in the Premier League so I have to find ways to do that. It's a lot different and it's tougher to find space in this league.”

Just because Downing agreed to the £7m switch back to the Riverside, he does think that promotion is a guarantee from a tough league, which he spent six weeks on loan in when he was at Sunderland towards the end of 2003 on loan.

“There are quality teams. Look at Derby, Tom Ince has come from a Premier League team, Darren Bent, he's been a Premier League striker for many years so the quality is going up,” said Downing. “I just think we're a strong team, we've got strength in depth and if the opposition are marking one player we've got other players who can cause damage.

“A lot of teams might be relying on one or two players and I don't think that's enough. That's what the manager's trying to bring in. Fabbrini gives us something a little bit different. We've got four or five wingers competing for a place in the team so we've got different options and different ways of playing and we are probably going to need that in some games.”

Karanka is working on strengthening his squad and Italian reports suggest he has made a move for Napoli goalkeeper Mariano Andujar. The 32-year-old could be available and Boro, who tried to sign Shay Given earlier this summer, are among those to be credited with an interest.