Colchester United get their 2023/24 League Two campaign underway this Saturday afternoon as they face Swindon Town.
Colchester United avoided dropping out of the English Football league by just a six point margin last season as they finished in 20th place.
They're coming into this season in very uncertain shape having endured a transfer window that's seen them lose Tommy Smith to MK Dons and Ossama Ashley to Salford City in addition to their failure to full what is still a vacant managerial post.
They have, at least, made a couple of additions to their squad in the form of left-back Ellis Iandolo arriving from Swindon Town and goalkeeper Tom Smith arriving from Arsenal.
There are still gaping holes in their squad, however, with their attack a huge point of concern and looking at the current makeup of the squad it's hard to pinpoint where the goals are going to come from.
They have at least taken advantage of the loan market by bringing in centre-back Nico Lawrence from Southampton, goalkeeper Owen Goodman from Crystal Palace and midfielder Mauro Bandeira from Arsenal in what they hope will all be shrewd additions to the squad.
They've looked solid in preseason too, so their fans can at least hope that another arduous relegation battle is off the cards this time around.
At best, though, mid-table is likely Colchester's ceiling and they've been given a tough start to the campaign as they prepare to face one of the league's play-off hopefuls here.
Swindon Town finished 10th in League Two last season in what was a fairly underwhelming season relative to expectations.
They're coming into this campaign in new hands under the guidance of Michael Flynn, who was in charge at Walsall last season.
He's already brought one of his trusted disciples from Walsall into the fold at Swindon having recruited defensive midfielder Liam Kinsella.
Swindon have also been active in the loan market with Dan Kemp, Jake Young and Murphy Mahoney all joining the club for the duration of the campaign.
In terms of high-profile departures Jonny Williams, Ronan Darcy and the aforementioned Ellis Iandolo have all left the club on a permanent basis.
Swindon will regard themselves one of the main play-off contenders but the league is looking particularly strong this time around and there are question marks over whether they've been aggressive enough in the transfer market to kick on to the next stage of their development.
Still, they'll be a very competitive side this season who'll likely take results off most teams.
As far as this game is concerned it's one they'll fancy themselves to win.
For our Colchester vs. Swindon prediction, we're going for a 1-0 win for the away side.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.