One team that will have mixed feelings heading into this weekend's start of the new Championship season is Watford following their bitter disappointment in the final of the playoffs last term. Here, Sports Mole assesses their prospects over the next few months.
In:
Daniel Pudil (From Granada, Undisclosed), Uche Ikpeazu (From Reading, Free), Lewis McGugan (From Nottingham Forest, Free), Cristian Battocchio (From Udinese, Undisclosed), Marco Cassetti (From Udinese, Undisclosed), Diego Fabbrini (From Udinese, Undisclosed), Gabriele Angella (From Udinese, Undisclosed), Almen Abdi (From Udinese, Undisclosed), Javier Acuna (From Udinese, Loan)
Out:
Jonathan Hogg (To Huddersfield Town, Undisclosed), Craig Forsyth (To Derby, £150,000), Jack Bonham (To Brentford, Free), Chris Iwelumo (To Scunthorpe, Free), Stephen McGinn (To Sheffield United, Free), Mark Yeates (To Bradford City, Free), Jack Bonham (Released), Prince Buaben (Released), Stephen Hamilton-Forbes (Released), Piero Mingoia (Released), John Eustace (To Watford, Free), Britt Assombalonga (To Peterborough United - Undisclosed)
Last Season: 3rd
Manager: Gianfranco Zola
Three key players:
First game: Birmingham City (A), Complete fixture list
Sports Mole says: The next few months are going to be a real test of Watford's character, given the heartbreaking circumstances in which they failed to reach the Premier League. The loss of loanee Vydra will hurt, but Zola will hope that one of either Javier Acuna or Diego Fabbrini will be able to step up to fill that void. Regardless of what you think about Watford's use of the loan system last season, their style of play was a joy to watch at times. Providing that it is not altered - and there is nothing to suggest that it will be - they will be expected to battle it out for promotion again. The loophole that allowed Watford to recruit players on loan in the way that they did has been closed and this year the majority of signings have been permanent ones. As mentioned above, the addition of McGugan is an extremely positive one and could be the difference between them finishing in the top six and ending the term outside.
Predicted finish: 5th