We had a nice little break and have done some business on the phone to get in five new players on permanent contract and we’ve also brought in young Dean Marney from Spurs on a season-long loan.

Last season we had David Bentley on similar terms from Arsenal, and from our point of view he did very well. Arsenal were also very pleased with the way the loan went and decided to keep him at Highbury for pre-season. David also wanted to have a go to see if he could make his mark.

We’re back in the Championship after a year in the top flight and I think now it’s an even better, tougher league than two seasons ago. There are a number of teams, maybe ten to 12 sides, capable of being in the top two at the end of the season.

Pre-season here went according to plan. We travelled to Holland for a week and got a lot of good work done and the spirit in the camp was very good. We’ve also been lucky to avoid too many injuries, unlike last season, with only Youssef Safri, Jason Jarrett and Jason Shackell missing parts of pre-season.

For them it’s about being patient and doing extra bits of work to catch up. While they’re doing that, we also have to make sure we don’t re-injure the players and put them back. 

We had a fairly good start to our league games last weekend, despite an indifferent performance against Coventry on Saturday. We were much better on Tuesday night when we played Crewe and did everything but win the game; the keeper made saves, they cleared the ball off the line, we’ve hit the post and we’ve hit the bar. But we know there's still a very long way to go.

A year ago we had to make the step up to the Premiership and adjust to the style of football. It’s a similar situation once again as we readjust to the Football League. We have to do it quickly, games come thick and fast and you have to be able to cope with the challenge, not just physically but mentally too.

We’re one of the favourites this season, and that’s understandable. Coming out of the Premiership other teams want to have a little piece of you, we have become a bit of a scalp, and we have to be prepared for that. But we need to be looking to get promotion again, certainly through the play-offs, if not the top two.

We’ve got a good solid squad with a nice mixture of experienced players and youngsters coming through.

When we got the fixtures, the first games I looked for were the Ipswich games, they're our local rivals and derbies naturally always catch your eye, but I also looked for the ones against my old clubs.

Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds are both rivals this season and returning to your old clubs is always nice, saying hello to some old friends, particularly when you get a good reception from the fans, too.

This week though we have Crystal Palace, what would have been Premier League game last year. It'll be tough, a real battle and we'll both be looking for our first wins.  Let's hope it's us who gets the three points.

Stay logged on to TheFA.com throughout the season to read more from Nigel as well as our other columnists, such as Phil Neville who joined us this week...