Following a frustrating end to the previous season due to injury, full back Scott Wiseman says he can now firmly put that to the back of his mind.
He is focused fully on kicking on again in the upcoming 2016-17 campaign after bouncing back from a knee injury which ruled him out for the final two months.Wiseman says this pre-season feels like a new beginning, and that he’s just full of elation to be back out there with the rest of the group after his spell on the sidelines.
“It’s fantastic to get back out there on the training pitch - and now I can fully put last season behind me,” Wiseman told The Iron PlayerHD.
“It’s a fresh start for me, and personally it means I can now crack on with the pre-season."
He drew attention to the positive atmosphere he’s walked back into, following the six game winning streak the Iron ended the season on.
“I personally never need any motivation to get back on the field but, as for the lads coming back in, I think it's given everyone a bigger sense of excitement that the squad is together and all the lads are still together,” he said.
“It’s been a great summer for the lads individually and as a collective. So coming back into pre-season, and knowing everyone has that familiarity already, is a good feeling."
The Gibraltar international states everyone in the squad must learn from the slow start which was made in the previous campaign, and hit the ground running this time around.
“We just need to look back at the end to the season we had, where we missed out on the play-offs on goal difference, and we only really had half a season playing like we know we can,” he stated.
“So realistically all it would have taken is a few extra points in the first half of the season, but unfortunately it wasn’t the case. I think our aim has got to be to have a better start to the season, and where it can take us, who knows.
“I think a good start means everything. Because you only have to look at what we would have achieved if we had a good start to the season and where we could have been."
Wiseman was insistent continuity is a definite aid when challenging for promotion, given his past experience of it with Preston North End.
With Josh Morris and Sam Mantom being the only transfers in so far, the right-back is in buoyant mood heading forward.
“It definitely helps you. I was in a similar situation at Preston where we missed out on the play-offs and come the summer the squad was mainly in tact. Then a couple of additions were brought in that improved the squad,” he added.
“This is what the manager wants to do here. Anybody who comes in is going to improve the squad, and you only have to look where we went with Preston - we went and got promoted that season, so it would be good to emulate that here again this time."
See much more from Scott Wiseman, Graham Alexander, Murray Wallace and Conor Townsend on the Iron PlayerHD.
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