VILLA WILL GO UP – AS LONG AS BRUCE STAYS

I LOVE a new season prediction and watching how each of those teams do over the course of a season.

In the Championship I am backing Aston Villa to win automatic promotion – but only if they keep hold of Steve Bruce.

Tony Pulis will ensure Middlesbrough are in the mix and my good friend Aitor Karanka will have Forest challenging.

And what about the start Leeds United have made under Marcelo Bielsa. Like every supporter of that great club, I want them back in the Premier League.

I watched as they destroyed Stoke City and watched on TV last week as they made a good Derby County team look awful. It’s been far too long for such a great club to languish outside the top flight.

Here in League One there will be many contenders for promotion. Everyone expects Sunderland to be challenging and I am no different.

I also expect the likes of Charlton, Barnsley, Luton, Plymouth, Oxford and Portsmouth to be contesting – which hows how tough the task is.

We also know that there will be a surprise team in the season, very much like Shrewsbury last term. That could be anyone of five or six.

Our objective is to make the play-offs. We have assembled a new group and that brings a little inconsistency but it seems we already have a brilliant team spirit.

I could not talk about League One without mentioning Fleetwood Town and the appointment of Joey Barton.

I believe it is a brilliant appointment and I get more impressed every time I hear him speak about the game, his team and what he is putting in place. There’s always one dark horse…