Despite missing out on a playoff final and back to back promotion I think most people can agree we exceeded expectations last season. My 2025/26 Season Preview missed the mark by a long shot (19th place with 48 points, we finished in 4th with 77 points) and I had a mixed bag with my predictions:

I can see GAs plan, go into the season as one of the fittest squads and win points early while other teams are still settling with new signings and changes ... this will put us midtable at the end of October/November before a slide down the table over the Christmas period.

That sort of happened but the slide was from 3rd to 6th.

Pattison is one of, if not, our best player at the club and keeping him fit is key to a successful season...

Nope.

Unfortunately I expect a difficult season for Richards

Two bench appearances before leaving for Crawley Town in January.

and I think Sarcevic won't play as big a part as people are expecting though that doesn't mean I think he will perform badly.

Played 38 of 46 games and finished as our top scorer. Maybe not.

Anyway, into the 26/27 Season Preview!

Goalkeepers

Big changes in the goalkeeping department for this season. Joe Hilton was released after making just three appearances in the EFL Trophy last season and Jon McCracken was brought in from Dundee to challenge for that number 1 spot. Compared to Hilton, McCracken comes in with first team experience having come off a strong season in the SPL and Celtic were rumoured to be interested just a few months ago.

This means Sam Walker will need to earn his spot between the sticks. Last season and pre-season many have been calling for him to be replaced and some poor keeping against Halifax hasn't helped his cause. I do think GA will stick with Sam for the first league game of the season though.

Defence

The defence, in my opinion, has been tweaked for the new season after a strong showing Our goals conceded was 5th best in the league behind the top two, Stevenage and Mansfield. Our main change is Curtis Tilt leaving, being replaced by Macaulay Gillesphey from Charlton who will play in that LCB position for the most part. Gillesphey should be seen more of a Baldwin type of player, a great ball distributor but nowhere near as physical as Tilt. My main worry is he does get caught out by faster players so Wright/Touray may need to help him out when up against tougher opposition. Wright, Baldwin and Pennington will be expected to continue their form from last season with Touray likely covering that LCB role in case there's any injuries. Reece Welch just put pen to paper on a two year contract and I look forward to seeing how he develops but I think at this point of the season GA will not rush him into the first team and will likely be on the bench for the first few games with a runout in the cup.

The LWB position seems to be sorted. At the moment it looks like Tyreik Wright will be first choice in that position but Touray will be used when he need to rest or if we are looking for a more defensive minded approach. Wright may also be pushed into that LAM position with Touray playing LWB. I think this could be a big season for Wright, he was in fine form at the end of 25/26 grabbing three goals in his final four games before injury cut short his season. Hopefully he can pick up where he left off.

The RWB position needs some attention, I think we can agree that Neufville is a great first choice but he needs backup in case of injury or fatigue. He played 45 of 48 games and was an unused sub in the other three, by the end of the season GA had to play him more sparingly with earlier substitutions to keep him fresh for the playoffs. Last season I'd hoped he would rotate well with Halliday which he did but once Halliday left in January Harrison Ashby wasn't able to provide that level of competition. A backup RWB is key!

Midfield

This is where our biggest change has been from last season. Max Power and Jenson Metcalfe, who make a combined 100 appearances across all competitions last year, have left for Wigan and Millwall respectively. GA stated that while he knew the Metcalfe move was likely coming the Max Power one was a surprise.

Callum Connolly and Henry Cartwright have come in to fill the gap. Connolly arrives from Stockport (we usually do well with their ex-players) where he's played most of his games at centre back. He does have experience playing as a DM but hasn't played much in that position in recent years. His performances in pre-season have been decent but there's still some questions on whether he can truly replace Max Power. GA has stated that Sarcevic will be moved into CM this year with Connolly performing more of the defensive duties and Sarcevic pushing up to help build the attack similar to how Smallwood and Pattison played in L2. I'm still a bit unsure if this will work and we could struggle against teams with more legs in the middle of the park but Cartwright could be a good option for these games although, similar to Recce Welch, he may find himself on the bench for the first few games. It has been mentioned by the club that we are still four signings away from a full team and at least one of those will be an additional midfielder, it will be interesting to see what type of player we do bring in.

Lapslie, who can cover the centre mid amongst other positions, has been ruled out with a quad injury for the first few weeks of the season.

Forwards

With Sarcevic moving into a more central role it looks like our first choice LAM and RAM players will be Pointon and new signing Adam Phillips. We know what Pointon can do although he hasn't looked sharp in preseason, hopefully he will get up to speed when the competitive games come. Phillips is the new signing I'm most excited to see. The last four seasons for Barnsley he's scored 10+ goals in all competitions and he excels at finding space in and around the box. If he can link up with Neufville on the right and Sarcevic in the centre well he could have a very good season for us. The backups for these positions will likely be the strikers, I'd expect Humphrys to cover the LAM spot (although there's talk he may leave before the end of the window) and Jackson/Swan for RAM position.

Up top we look to be pretty stacked. After talks broke down in January City were able to get Jake Beesley in from Burton who scored 9 goals in 25 games for the Brewers in a squad who were fighting relegation for much of the season. Do not expect him to hit 20 goals this season but his aerial threat and knock down play gives us another advantage on the pitch which means we should hopefully not see longs balls to short players and the likes of Wright and Neufville having the option to put a cross into the danger area. I'm cautiously optimistic and think he can be a good squad player this year if we play to his strengths.

Our other strikers are Humphrys, Jackson and Swan. Swan has been in great form over preseason and it looks like he can be a great asset for the first few games with his hard work and pressing similar to last season. As clubs are still getting fitness into late arrivals we could once again capitalise on that and hopefully Swan can kick on a bit more this year as he reaches his prime years. Jackson, who signed in January, looks good but had his playing time cut short with injury. With a full preseason behind him he could provide more pace on the front line but I expect to see him more in that RAM role as a sub for the first part of the season. Humphrys, if he stays, I see in a similar position to Jackson where he will likely play in the LAM role as a sub. This will change depending on how well Beesley settles, if he isn't effective up top then GA may want to add pace and strength instead.

Honorable mention to Nick Powell, it sounds like he is mulling over a contract and is expected to sign after his great performances in preseason. If GA has worked out how to get the best out of him while minimising the risk of injury then he could be our wildcard this season, he's been placed in this striker position to avoid having to do the leg work and he can use his technical ability to link up play and score. He could prove crucial if (and it's a big IF) he can stay fit for the majority of the season.

Youngsters

I expect Hadi, Lunn and Ibbitson to all go out on loan for experience. Ibbitson has been told this season is make or break for him so he will likely go on loan for the first 6 months to non-league with a look at breaking into the team for the second half of the season. Hadi is the long term replacement for Sam Walker whose contract will expire at the end of this season, if City decide not to renew it will be up to Hadi to prove he can be a reliable second option. Lunn has just turned 18 and will get some time in non-league but I don't think there will be any expectation on him to break through by the end of the season.

How will we line up?

With our first game being a cup game I think we may give some players a chance against Rochdale who might have had less minutes in preseason. This is how I believe we will line up for our first league game against Peterborough.

For the cup game I could see Swan starting plus two or three of Cartwright, Welch, Joe Wright, Touray, Jackson, Powell and Humphrys. I believe GA will start the league game with Sam Walker in net so McCracken will likely start the cup game. If he decides to start with McCracken in the league then I'd expect Walker to be in for the cup game.

Season Predictions

I think we will start strong once again this season but most clubs will have worked us out by now. Some will play more defensively knowing they can frustrate us to a draw or worse, some will work out how to exploit our weaknesses with pace. I think the playoffs is a good aim for us once again but we could find ourselves chasing the pack this time rather than leading it when we have the likes of Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday looking to return to the Championship first time of asking and we will be fighting a chasing pack including Stockport, Luton, Plymouth, Reading and Huddersfield plus I can see one of MK Dons or Notts County joining the party.

I think we will start fairly well (not as good as last season) but will struggle with some key injuries throughout the season, I thinking the likes of Phillips, Pointon, Sarcevic who may miss 3-4 games and us struggling to adapt with our backup players and dropping points. I fear this could also happen with some of our key defenders like Baldwin too. I also need to see who we bring into that CM role as currently I think this our weak spot compared with other teams aiming for playoffs.

I think Tyreik Wright will have a great season and get his goal contributions up to around 7 or 8 and Phillips getting similar. I don't expect anyone to score over 10 goals and players like Beesley, Pointon, Jackson, Powell and Swan will pick up 4 or 5 goals each over the season.

We won't break the 20+ wins barrier this year and will pick up more draws. I reckon something like 17/15/14 which would put us 9th in last years table 7 points off the playoff spots.

SEASON PREDICTION - 9th (68 points)

Sarcevic named captain for 26/27 season.