Football Season Guide

Like Dagenham the previous year, Stevenage were the surprise League 2 play-off winners and will take their place in the third tier of English football for the first time in their history. Boro relied mainly on their defence last season and had the lowest goals conceded total in the whole division. They will need to remain solid if they are to have a chance in League 1, but manager Graham Westley has made it a priority to strengthen his forward line as they were not among the top scorers last term. Guy Madjo and Jennison Myrie-Williams will give him more options in attack, but the bulk of his squad remains unchanged as Westley believes the players that got the club promoted deserve a chance. There are many parallels between Stevenage and Dagenham, who got promoted in similar circumstances last term. The Daggers suffered from a poor start to the season and Westley will be looking to avoid that. He will have the element of surprise for the first few months of the campaign as opponents are unlikely to know much about his team, and a decent start could set up the ‘Boro for a crack at survival.