We’re back!

After 15 long years we finally take a first step back in the Football League, and thanks to the remarkable renaissance the club has enjoyed, we take it with confidence.

Fans usually clamour for summer signings, but our lack of transfer market activity hasn’t been a sign of stagnation. Instead, it’s proof that Phil Parkinson’s long term planning been a terrific success.

His intention was to build a team that would not only be able to win the National League, but also climb the divisions afterwards. That’s why there’s been no urgency around augmenting his squad.

Instead, we have something we’ve rarely experienced this century: stability.

Since our financial problems began in earnest at the turn of the Millennium, only Andy Morrell and Denis Smith had been able to go through a Summer making tweaks to their squads rather than the constant churn of new faces we experienced under Brian Little, Dean Saunders, Gary Mills and Kevin Wilkin.

Parkinson will sign players who will improve the quality of his choices, but won’t be rushed into a substandard signing as there’s simply to need to do so. What a wonderful luxury for a manager, but we should remember that his judicious signings have created that luxury for himself.

Obviously, this season will be tougher than the last. I’d be more than happy with another 100-point season, but it would be a heck of an achievement against an improved level of opposition.

We’ll be up at the top end of the table though, and having finally freed ourselves of 15 years of two-up, two-down tyranny, knowing that there will be 4 sides going up from League 2 this season feels like a remarkably indulgent set-up.

Heck, maybe we’ll throw a few games away at the start of the season, just for fun! With more promotion spots available, the sense that any points dropped are a catastrophe is a thing of the past.

Admittedly, the absence of Paul Mullin for the first part of the season is a genuine blow. What team wouldn’t miss a player of such prodigious talent?

I don’t feel as concerned about his injury as I thought I might do. Perhaps it’s because we’re at the start of the season, and the pressure hasn’t begun to tell yet.

Mostly, though, I think I met the bad news with equanimity because I feel comfortable with our options. Ollie Palmer has already shown what he can do, while Sam Dalby’s maiden season at The Racecourse was an immense success. Billy Waters looked sharp in pre-season, and Jake Bickerstaff has picked up where he left off with the reserves by knocking some goals in.

Parkinson has already confirmed that he’s looking to bring another striker in to add to those options: if Mullin is missing for a couple of months, I’m confident we’ve got a good array of options to deal with his loss.

It will be one heck of an occasion on Saturday, and emotions will run high. MK Dons are the ultimate party-poopers, used as they are to the role of unwelcome guests, but regardless of the outcome, we’re where we want to be.