The long-awaited 2023/24 League One season kicks off this weekend and we have a fun encounter in store at Oakwell as Barnsley welcome Port Vale to Yorkshire.
Barnsley finished 4th in League One last season in what turned out to be an agonising campaign for The Tykes.
The Yorkshire side had an excellent second half of the season and went all the way to the play-off final, a game that went excruciatingly wrong for Barnsley.
The Tykes were, very arguably, unfairly reduced to ten men yet still remained the better team for the majority of the game before conceding the game winner in the 123rd minute, effectively with the last kick of the game, largely against the run of play.
The result was an absolute sickener for Barnsley and to make matters worse they enter this season in a weaker state than they ended last season in.
In addition to losing manager Michael Duff to Swansea, Barnsley lost talismanic centre-back Mads Juel Andersen to Premier League side Luton Town and goalkeeper Bradley Collins to Luton Town, two players that will be very tough to replace.
They've attempted to fill the void by bringing in Hartlepool goalkeeper Ben Killip alongside a number of defensive reinforcements in Corey O'Keeffe, Kacper Łopata and Kyran Lofthouse.
Forward Max Watters has also had his loan move from Cardiff City made permanent and Andrew Dallas, who scored six goals in twelve games for Chesterfield last season, has arrived on a free transfer.
Not a bad window, then, but the real question marks come in relation to Barnsley's managerial appointment with the Oakwell board selecting former Sheffield United defender Neill Collins to take the reigns.
Collins' only managerial experience has been at American USL Championship - the league second in the US hierarchy behind MLS - side Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Collins did a decent job in the US but there's little way of predicting the success of this appointment and much of Barnsley's potential is dependent on whether or not Collins is a hit.
They still enter the season in good shape overall and are expected by most to challenge for a play-off spot, but they're one of the more mysterious sides coming into this campaign so they should be fun to follow.
Port Vale finished 18th in League One last season in what was a fairly dismal and forgettable campaign.
Manager Andy Crosby served as interim boss for Port Vale from April onwards last season and he will take charge of the club for the full season for the first time and has a huge job on his hands if he's to achieve anything remarkable with this group.
Crosby was hit by the departure of two key players during the summer with centre back Will Forrester leaving for Bolton Wanderers and the long-serving David Worrall rejecting a new deal in favour of a move to Barrow on a free transfer.
They've been active in terms of incomings having signed eight players on free transfers including goalkeeper Connor Ripley, midfielder Ethan Chislett and defender Mitch Clark.
They've also utilised the loan market having signed Oliver Arblaster from Sheffield United, Kofi Balmer from Crystal Palace and Josh Thomas from Swansea City.
They've been good enough in the transfer market to suggest they should avoid another relegation battle but a playoff push still feels unlikely.
They've been given a tough start on paper and one they're not expected to win; a draw would be an excellent result but a defeat is more likely.
For our Barnsley vs. Port Vale prediction, we're going for a 2-1 win for the home side.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.