Defender Niall Canavan is looking to cement his position at the heart of the Iron's defence after having an impressive campaign last season.
The 22-year-old emerged as one of the ever present faces throughout the United side last term, partnering both David Mirfin and former captain Paul Reid at the back.Now, Canavan is setting his sights on a second season as a first-choice centre half and he believes a change in mentality will help his achieve that goal.
"I would like to see myself as being a first choice centre-half and for me it will be a change in the mindset for me more than anything," Canavan told The Iron Player.
"When I came back last year I tried to start a fresh and that kind of worked for me. My aim was to back myself a bit more and in the end it worked for me. This season I am just looking to progress and learn as much as I can."
Canavan, who has represented the Republic of Ireland at under 21 level, says the start to pre-season has been a tough ask but he is used to it as each pre-season begins in the same way.
He added: "It was tough as usual when you come back. We had a bit of testing then a bit of blow out for all the lads. It is very good to be back."
When that time of the summer comes around and the players are set to return to training they always know what to expect especially when they have been in the professional game for several years.
"[The training] is pretty standard practice," he said.
"I have done this for the past couple of years and you know that when you come back after the summer you are going to be tested.
"Different management teams have different methods that they use and the one that we did a fortnight ago was another new one that I had never done before professionally. But, like I said, it is all standard practice."
The United team headed north this week for a two-day trip to Staley Hall in Hexham before they travel to local side Brigg for their first pre-season match on Saturday.
Canavan believes that this trip away will stand the team in good stead ahead of their opening League Two fixture against Mansfield on August 3.
He added: "I think it was news to a few people that we would be heading away for a few days. It is always good for the group to get away as it allows us to get to know the rest of the team."
Ahead of his fifth season as a professional player with the Iron, the young defender admitted he will continue to work hard this season to ensure that he becomes a better player than what he was last season.
He said: "I will just be continuing to work really hard. I will be pushing myself throughout every single session and making sure that I am able to get the most out of it for myself.
"If we all do that as individual players then when it comes to being on the pitch as a team we should be in a very good position."
N
ow that the fixtures have been revealed, the Iron centre-half insists the club need to get off to a good start as that will give them the best chance of achieving success this season compared with that early season form that the Iron have displayed in recent years.
Canavan said: "I think everybody sits there during the summer, whether you are on holiday or not, waiting for the fixtures to come out so you can see when the real business starts and who you will be playing and when.
"Hopefully we will get off to a good start. We are at home and hopefully that will bode well for us. I am really looking forward to that day.
"Mansfield are new to the league so they will be really up for it and we will have to be wary of because we need to know what they are about as we need to start the season off in the right manner and make sure that we are not playing catch up like we did last season."
A promotion chasing campaign can often be determined on how well a team start their season and Canavan believes it is essential that they get off the mark on August 3 as they cannot afford to be caught trailing behind their fellow promotion rivals.
"It is massive," Canavan admitted.
"I think it has been said by the gaffer and everyone many times before.
"You saw last season that we did not get off to a good start and we ended up miles behind the rest of the teams playing catch up.
"We will be looking to get that good start then push on early doors.
"I have been at this club through both the good times of the Championship and the bad times that we had last season and I want us to get back on the straight and narrow towards good achieving something for this football club again.
"I think if we were to achieve something like promotion this season then it would be something that would lift the whole town."
He added: "We have to keep ourselves on the ground, keep our feet on the ground and then we will just see where that takes us."
The former Shrewsbury Town loanee believes that the United boss, Brian Laws has set a benchmark to his fellow League Two sides ahead of the new season after he made influential signings such as former Scotland international Chris Iwelumo, Andy Dawson, Andy Welsh and Matt Sparrow.
"I think we have made some really good signings and the lads that have come in look like they are going to bring an awful lot to the team with their experience," he stated.
"Hopefully we all blend in really well and we can bring that on to the pitch."
Again, the United defender has changed his squad number and following the departure of Reid, Canavan has taken up the vacant number six shirt - which has a recent history with past Iron captains.
The number was graced for so long my former captain Cliff Byrne, before Reid took over the role at the start of last season.
Now Canavan has been handed the responsibility of being the bearer of such a prestogious number in the claret and blue of the Iron.
However, he admitted he is not fazed by the history of the shirt.
He stated: "To me it is just a number at the end of the day but people around the club and the supporters will look to that as it has been associated with the past two captains.
"It is a pretty famous number for the club in terms of recent history, but I am my own person and I aim to make it my own number."
Canavan added: "I have had a different shirt number every year so to me it does not really mean anything."
See much more from Niall Canavan on The Iron Player.