FLEETWOOD TOWN

Last season was very disappointing, but it’s another year that we’re still in the third tier of English football. Simon Grayson steadied the ship and did a great job to keep us up after some worrying times. Beating Plymouth 5- 1 at home was nice. The big talking point among the fans is replacing the goals of Paddy Madden and Ched Evans, who both left this calendar year.

This season will be different to last

because expectations are lower. We had a lot of top League One players last season who we’ve now lost, so Grayson needs to rebuild and get us playing the way he wants.

I’ve really missed meeting friends; feeling deflated leaving the ground after a defeat; buzzing for three days after a win. Nothing compares to it.

I won’t be happy unless we stay up and compete with the better teams. On our day, we can beat anyone.

Our most underrated player is Dan Batty, who was superb after coming in on winter deadline day from Hull last term. He drives us forward and never stops running.

Look out for Jay Matete [ below], a 20- year- old midfielder who works box to box and knows where the goal is. He was excellent for Grimsby on The loan one last change season. I’d make would be attracting more fans – though with the town’s population of 25,000, we do very well to get 3,000 at Highbury. Save the date for Morecambe away on December 18 – the first seafood derby at their place in the league since Boxing Day 2013. The best thing about matchday at Fleetwood is how friendly everyone is – you see the regulars every week and have a chat with them.

Our key player will be Alex Cairns [ above], a superb goalkeeper who’s been through tough moments but always comes back. The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is like Marmite – some like him, some don’t. I personally think he’s done all right so far. Grayson’s not exciting, but he’s a safe pair of hands. And we should be fine this season. We’ll finish 18th.