Portsmouth boss delivers verdict on who’s caught his eye among Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich Town, Derby County, Plymouth Argyle, Barnsley & Co

And the Pompey boss believes MK Dons and Wycombe will soon be in contention at the right end of the table after surprisingly slow starts

Cowley sees quality among all the early pacesetters, with Plymouth raising an eyebrow or two as they top the table.

Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday were expected to be in contention and are placed handily in second and third spot after the weekend’s fixtures.

Pompey moved up to fourth without kicking a ball, after Wycombe defeated Peterborough 3-1 at Adams Park.

Cowley sees the Posh being among those vying for success at the end of the season, however, along with Derby and Barnsley.

He said: 'What I see so far is that Ipswich are a very good team.

'I think Plymouth have done great and Sheffield Wednesday have got top players.

'I think Derby will come and join that group, I think Peterborough will come and join that group.

'Barnsley are going to be very, very competitive - very well organised and very competitive.'

At the other end of League One it’s been tough going for MK Dons, who currently sit in the relegation places after finishing in the play-offs last season.

Oxford picked up a weekend win at Exeter but sit in 19th place, while Wycombe’s win sees them up to 12th after failing to kick on from reaching the play-off final in May.

Cowley added: 'I’m just waiting for the MK Dons and the Wycombes to get going.

'It just shows you how competitive the division is, because I think they have really good players and really good managers.

'I anticipate all of them finding their way to the right end of the division as the season unfolds.

'If you look at it now, it’s so competitive and there’s so little between the teams.

'Look at Fleetwood and how competitive they are. They’d lost once in the league since the first day of the season against Barnsley, before this weekend. The other game they lost was against a strong Everton side.

'They beat Peterborough away which was a really good performance, as well as Plymouth and Wigan in the Carabao. That shows you.'