Having spent most of the summer watching Millwall's play-off final winner accompanied by Celine Dion’s soundtrack on repeat, the new season kicks off today with a trip to Nottingham Forest. 

With the thrill of Wembley still fresh in the minds of Lions’ supporters, it's fair to say there is a buzz about the season ahead. Gone are the arduous trips to Rochdale and Walsall. Instead the likes of Forest, Aston Villa, Sunderland and Leeds United await Neil Harris and his new-look squad.  The club’s recruitment team have been busy adding seven new faces - albeit in Jed Wallace, Jake Cooper and George Saville, come three names which will already be familiar to supporters.

Encouragingly, Wallace and Cooper, the club's top summer targets have been tied down to long-term deals - and along with League One full-backs of the season James Meredith and Conor McLaughlin, striker Tom Elliott and former Fulham midfielder Ryan Tunnicliffe, Harris has got his house in order before a ball has been kicked in anger.

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There’s no getting away from the fact that this season will be tough. From being a reasonably big fish in a small pond we are now a tiny fish in a massive ocean. Middlesbrough, armed with Premier League parachute payments have just splashed out nigh-on 30 million quid on a new frontline, meanwhile the ghost of Paul Goddard still haunts The Den – an £800,000 record transfer fee dating back to 1989.

That said, I fancy us to upset a few teams this season. A club which thrives on being the underdog, we have a chance to put the cat amongst the pigeons against the league’s big hitters. Home form will be key to any success as well as the ability to adapt formation when required. As much as I admire Harris for his insistence in using 4-4-2, against better teams we could come unstuck.

There’s bound to be a few controversial moments along the way: the inevitable 6-0 home defeat in the autumn, the pantomime fixture against Leeds and the return of Ian Holloway with QPR in December is a fixture many cannot wait for. Let’s just hope he lasts that long!

In terms of predictions for the season, it would be no surprise to me to see us end up anywhere between 9th and 24th. A good start and sky’s the limit, a slow one and the doom and gloom merchants will be out in force. If you were to push me for an answer, though? I’ll go with a respectable 16th place finish.

Whatever happens, it’s nice to have football back. There’s only so much decorating and gardening a man can take!