Despite having gone into last season as one of the favourites to be promoted, Wigan Athletic can look back on their campaign as something of a success having reached the playoffs.
Their form over the second half of the season, when Uwe Rosler replaced Owen Coyle at the helm, has left fans optimistic about their chances for the upcoming nine months.
The Latics get their 2014-15 campaign underway against Reading at the DW Stadium this Saturday with realistic ambitions of gaining automatic promotion from a highly competitive league.
Last season they were forced to deal with the extra workload of the Europa League, and the absence of such a taxing competition this time around is likely to help Rosler's side enjoy a better first half of the season.
However, things have not gone exactly as planned in the transfer market, with key player Jordi Gomez joining Sunderland and Jean Beausejour leaving on a free.
A number of long-term injuries hampered their efforts last term, though, and barring any further strokes of bad luck, Rosler should have a stronger squad to choose from for the majority of the season.
Pre-season has been something of a mixed bag for the Latics, but they know that the real test starts on Saturday against a side that harbour playoff ambitions of their own.
Reading narrowly missed out on a place in the top six last season, finishing just one place and one point behind Brighton & Hove Albion.
As with Wigan, hopes are high that they can improve on that performance this time around, although it has been a relatively quiet summer at the Madejski Stadium.
Simon Cox returned to the club recently in their solitary signing of the transfer window so far, and manager Nigel Adkins is likely to look for one or two more additions before the deadline.
Not many players have departed the club either, with the standout loss coming in the shape of Adam Le Fondre, who netted some important goals off the bench last season.
Their recent friendlies have also been something of a mixed bag, and it remains to be seen whether Adkins's policy of leaving things almost as they were pays off.
Recent form
Wigan: WDWLLW
Reading: DWDWDL
Possible starting lineups
Wigan: Al-Habsi; Boyce, Kiernan, Ramis; Tavernier, Cowie, McArthur, McManaman, Taylor; Fortune, Waghorn
Reading: McCarthy; Gunter, Morrison, Pearce, Obita; Cummings, Akpan, Hector, Taylor; Blackman, Pogrebnyak
Sports Mole says: 2-1
Barney Corkhill
