Danny Potter believes Cambridge United has a stronger squad than last season and hopes we can go one better and gain promotion at the end of this campaign.
The U's goalkeeper, who started out at Chelsea and includes Exeter City, Weymouth and Canvey Island among his former clubs, took a pay cut to leave Stevenage last summer and join the U's, and it's a move he has no cause to regret as United went on to enjoy the best season for many years.
"It was a tough season for me before I came here," he explains. "I started out as number 1 at Stevenage until I got sent off and had to sit on the bench for the rest of the season, but when the call came from Cambridge it wasn't something I had to think about for very long.
"This is a big club and at 28 it seemed the right thing for me to get out and be playing regular first team football again and I was very pleased with how it went last season.
"We excelled last season and did a lot better than people expected; we overachieved in some aspects, but having got to the play-off final it was obviously really disappointing to lose the game."
Sunday 18th May 2008 was eagerly anticipated by all concerned as Wembley tickets and shirts sold at high speed, coaches and day trips were organised and booked, the players' were measured for their Wembley suits and booked into their pre-match hotel, but of course it ended in disappointed for the more than 21,000 people there to support Cambridge United.
It was a second visit to the new Wembley for Potter, having been part of Stevenage's FA Trophy winning squad the previous season, and he admits it took him a long time to shake off the disappointment of defeat.
"It was a fantastic occasion at Wembley. I went there the year before when Stevenage won the FA Trophy but I didn't play, so to go there and play this time - and to take over 20,000 people with us - was really special.
"It was amazing to see all the colours at the opposite ends of the ground and it was a great occasion, but having been there the year before and sampled what it was like to win, I can say it's a great place to win but an awful place to lose.
"The effect of losing a game like that can go on for as long as you allow, and for me personally it probably took me a good month to get over it," he reveals.
"Different things strike you, like when the Football League fixtures came out you think about what could have been and where you could have been going to instead of where we'll be playing this season. But you get over it and we all came in with a very positive atmosphere for pre-season and we hope to go one better this year.
"There was obviously a lot of upheaval in the summer and there were times when no-one really knew what was going on, but Gary has come in with a lot of enthusiasm and it's very infectious and running through everyone at the moment."
Last season the management, players and fans all spoke of the great team spirit and despite the changes to management and the squad this summer, Potter says that hasn't changed.
"We lost a couple of characters in the summer. Mark Albrighton was a big figure in the dressing room and he's left, but they got Lee McEvilly back in who's a big character to say the least," he smiles.
"We've got a few Northerners in the dressing room now so there's always a bit of banter going on about the north-south divide and we have little five-a-side games with north against south, so the atmosphere is good. Having a young manager in place and with Cardy there as well, who was here last season, it's a good place to be."
With the early summer transfers all being outbound as Mark Albrighton, Rob Wolleaston and Lee Boylan were sold, rumours abounded that Danny was a target for other clubs and would be the next to leave. Then in the period from Jimmy Quinn leaving the club to just after Gary Brabin had been appointed, the speculation grew so strong that he made a statement confirming that he was committed to Cambridge United.
"There were rumours going around and some of them were true," he comments. "There were clubs interested in me at the time and people contacting my agent and offering more money than I'm getting now.
"But for me it's not all about the money. I've got a young family, I'm settled in Ipswich, and I've said many times that I've always wanted to play for Cambridge.
"The only issue for me was the upheaval and the stability of the club, that's all, but once Gary Brabin came in he spoke to us all individually and he assured everyone that the club was in a good state financially, which is obviously a massive thing for anyone with a young family and a mortgage, and that's the same as in any job.
"You want to know that you're going to be secure for the length of your contract, but there was certainly no thought from me that I wanted to leave and throughout everything that went on this summer that's what I kept saying - there was no way I wanted to leave Cambridge United and the money side was never an issue for me."
New manager Gary Brabin has made a good impression on the U's Vice-captain and he gave an insight into how he works: "He's very relaxed, he knows what he wants from us and as players we all know what he wants and what he will accept from us, and I think as long as everyone is giving 100% in training every day and on match days then he'll be a happy person.
"All teams have their ups and downs during a season and we're all disappointed not to have won the last three games, but there's a positive attitude in the camp and he's very keen to make sure that we move on and focus on the next game.
"He and Bimmo set their training sessions around what they want to focus on and what they want to pick up from the previous game and we do that and then move on to the next game."
Danny has worn the captain's armband this season when Paul Carden missed two games through injury, and he admits he would have liked to be appointed club captain: "I said to Gary when he first came to the club that I wanted to captain the club and I was disappointed when I didn't get it on a permanent basis, but having said that Cardy is a fantastic player and he is a leader.
"I'll be a leader whether I've got the armband or not and to be Vice-captain is still an honour for me."
Reflecting on the season so far, with four wins, two draws and a defeat putting United fourth in the table on goal difference, Pottsy admits, "I think we probably still haven't played to our best so far this season, even though we've gone out and won four of the games.
"It's a good sign when a team is winning games when you're not playing well but, having said that, we haven't had any 'easy' games this year."
Echoing his manager's words from earlier this season, he adds, "In a way it's probably easier when you play the bigger clubs because you tend to cancel each other out, but when you have a team that's been promoted from the division below they're coming up with team spirit and momentum and that winning mentality from last season that they carry into this season.
"It's very hard to break that mentality so that's why it's been a fantastic start for us against some of those teams. No matter what club you are and what division, if you win your first four games and you're third in the league it's a good start and you'd have taken it."
Danny voices the hopes of every United supporter when he concludes with his hopes for this campaign and his sights set high: "We're aiming to do at least what we did last year and it's so far, so good. We'll aim to win every game and go one better than we did last year.
"We had some major outgoings in the summer with people leaving, but the manager has said all along that he wants to bring in quality and he certainly hasn't rushed out and just signed anyone for the sake of it. The people he's brought in are quality players and we've definitely got a stronger squad than last year.
"Hopefully we'd go up automatically rather than through the play-offs but obviously we'd take it however it came!"
Andrea Thrussell
web@cambridge-united.co.uk
*An edited version of this interview was published in the programme for the match against Wrexham on Saturday 6th September, 2008.
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