Competitive football is back for Milton Keynes Dons as they get their 2022/23 League One campaign underway this Saturday.
Liam Manning's side open their league campaign with a trip to Cambridge United's Abbey Stadium, hoping to get another promotion chase off to the best possible start with three points.
The Dons have once again undergone a number of changes to their first-team squad, with twelve signings already made so far this season, so will be quite a difficult team to predict after last season's impressive third-place finish.
The attacking principles remain under Manning, and some familiar faces have returned in the form of Ethan Robson, Jamie Cumming and Will Grigg, all of whom will give the Dons genuine quality come match day.
Top young talents in Darragh Burns, Dawson Devoy, Conor Grant and Louie Barry (loan) are all signed up and ready to take the third tier by storm, with plenty of flashes of potential witnessed in the team's recent 3-1 victory over Barnet - the last pre-season fixture for the club.
Expectations for success will be high for the Dons this season, given the quality of additions that have been made in the wake of Scott Twine and Harry Darling's departures earlier in the off-season.
Five days ago, the Daily Mirror's Supercomputer ranked the Dons as second in League One, placing them firmly among the favourites to be promoted this season, and that will surely be the aim for everyone involved at the club this season - with the bitter disappointment of coming so close last season still lingering.
There could be some formation and style changes for the Dons this season, with Manning potentially reverting to his preferred 4-2-3-1 system after working through last season's 3-4-3 to great results, though the flexibility in the squad at his disposal will be sure to create plenty of headaches for teams visiting Stadium MK this time around.
The Dons will be eager to build momentum early on, starting at Cambridge, with two serious challenges thrown at them early in the campaign with Sheffield Wednesday the visitors for the Dons' first home fixture next Saturday (6th August) and a trip down to Ipswich Town's Portman Road a week later.
There are still many days remaining in the summer transfer window, so the Dons could still be in line to make more additions before the end of August, so the product seen through the initial matches may not necessarily be the final article - though on paper, things are looking fairly set in terms of line-ups and variations.
There are still one or two areas the Dons could look to improve, particularly in the attacking third, but the team is well placed to make a positive start when they make the short trip along the A421 this weekend.
