The Sky Bet Championship season is around the corner and George Pitts takes a look at the players who could light up the division.
The top goalscorers may get all the glory, but there are a number key players behind those up front who deserve the plaudits.
Last season, the division's Player of the Year was Fulham's Ryan Sessegnon, with Brighton's Anthony Knockaert the previous winner of the award.
There are some existing players to look out for, those consistent performers in the league and some newcomers to the division.
Here are some of George Pitts' selections.
Benik Afobe
One of the more unusual transfers of the summer, considering Afobe joined Wolves from Bournemouth for £10m before he moved on-loan to Stoke 11 days later.
The 25-year-old will complete a permanent move to the Staffordshire club in January for an undisclosed fee and he is the 8/1 favourite to finish as the league’s top goalscorer.
Afobe has struck 32 goals and assisted a further ten in 102 appearances in the second tier of English football, with his pace and power proving key in the second-half of last season where he featured for a Wolves side that secured promotion.
He is the first out-and-out goalscorer the Potters have had for some time and, should they play to his strengths, he could undoubtedly fire them back to the big time.
Benik Afobe: Sky Bet top goalscorer odds: 8/1
Ryan Woods
Whether he leaves Brentford or not, Woods has proved himself as one of the Sky Bet Championship’s top midfielders after three years in west London.
The 24-year-old arrived from Shrewsbury in 2015 and soon became one of the first names on the Bees' teamsheet due to his performances since making the switch.
His awareness and passing in the centre of midfield shows just why Swansea are one of a number of clubs vying for his signature.
Woods is a midfielder that most sides in the Championship desire, with his work rate ensuring his presence is felt throughout the pitch.
Should the Bees keep hold of him this summer, their chances of promotion will significantly increase.
Ben Woodburn
The Liverpool youngster is set to spend the season on-loan at Sheffield United and he could be the ideal replacement for David Brooks, who joined Bournemouth in the summer.
An 18-year-old forward highly rated by Jurgen Klopp, he has returned for pre-season in better condition to handle the physicality of the game and a number of clubs were said to be in the race for his signature, including Aston Villa.
He scored on his first-team debut for Liverpool, aged 17, against Leeds in the EFL Cup in 2016, becoming the club’s youngest ever goalscorer. He has since become a full Wales international.
When discussing the impact of his younger players in pre-season, the German told the Liverpool Echo: "Ben Woodburn is 100% back.
"How it is with young boys, from time to time the improvement doesn’t go day by day, but he has played such a good pre-season."
Jack Harrison
After stealing the headlines in the United States with New York City FC, sister club Manchester City did not hesitate to bring the England U21 winger back across the Atlantic.
He was immediately sent on-loan to Middlesbrough for the second half of the season, where he rarely featured under Tony Pulis.
On the advice of Pep Guardiola, Harrison has made the loan move to Leeds for the season, to work under his manager’s close friend and former mentor Marcelo Bielsa.
After spells in the academy of Liverpool and Manchester United, Harrison moved to the USA aged 14 and continued his development, being selected as the number one pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft before joining NYCFC.
In his second season at the Yankee Stadium, he was named Major League Soccer’s Rookie of the Year and continued to flourish, earning a call-up to England’s U21s last October before the Citizens came calling.
He scored 14 times and assisted ten more goals in 55 MLS appearances, getting the opportunity to play with Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard and David Villa.
All three players had world-class careers and were full of praise for Harrison, with Villa saying: "When he has the ball at his feet, you get the sensation something is going to happen - few players give you that feeling."
Guardiola trusts Bielsa to continue his development and, should Leeds be able to integrate him into their XI correctly, he may just show his star potential.
You can back him at 6/1 with Sky Bet to be Leeds' Official Player of the Year for 2018/19.
Jack Marriott
One of the stars of Sky Bet League One last season, a move to the second tier was inevitable for Marriott.
The league’s Golden Boot winner joined Frank Lampard’s Rams revolution a week before the season begins for a reported fee that could rise to £5m, after showing his capabilities with 27 goals and four assists in 44 appearances for Peterborough last term.
The 23-year-old has risen up the ranks, first in non-league in a few loan spells at Woking, before impressing in Sky Bet League Two with Luton and earning a move to League One Peterborough, so his progression to the second tier is well deserved and it would be no surprise to see him take it in his stride.
Bradley Dack
Another player on the rise after impressing in Leagues Two and One with Gillingham and Blackburn.
Still only 24, Dack regularly attracted suitors during his Gillingham days before earning a £750,000 move to Rovers last summer.
The attacking midfielder helped his new club secure an immediate return to the second tier, scoring 18 and assisting nine to rightfully be named League One Player of the Year as Tony Mowbray’s side finished runners-up.
He was recently rewarded with a new three-year deal and Blackburn will be looking to Dack to help them kick on next season.
Nick Powell
He will himself admit his career has not taken off like he would have hoped, but Nick Powell is back on the way to the top and, with or without Wigan, you would expect him to be a Premier League player again in the next few years.
He has been attracting the interest of fellow Sky Bet Championship side Aston Villa, while Premier League Brighton bid £3m for his services in January, after impressive performances last term helped Wigan to the League One title.
The 24-year-old scored 15 and assisted seven in 39 league appearances, playing a vital role in Paul Cook’s side going forward.
The attacker burst onto the scene with Crewe at the start of the decade, going on to score a stunning volley in the 2012 Sky Bet League Two play-off final which helped secure promotion and a move to Manchester United.
His spell at Old Trafford failed to take off before he made the move to the Latics, returning two years after a loan spell.
He is now playing with the freedom and confidence which earned him so many plaudits years ago, now he must keep the momentum and take the division by storm.
Mason Mount
The 19-year-old recently secured a loan move from Chelsea to join Frank Lampard at Derby.
The midfield talent has impressed at youth level for club and country, as well as in the Netherlands last year as he was voted Vitesse Arnhem’s Player of the Season.
He scored eight and assisted nine for the Dutch side and who better to learn the next stage of his trade than under Blues legend Lampard.
Lampard is clearly excited by the prospect of Mount, telling the Derby Telegraph after securing his signature: "I hate to put pressure on, but I have so much belief in his quality.
Lampard's Derby 14/1 with Sky Bet to win the 2018/19 Championship
"Mason has got great quality, great energy which you saw, speed in his game, awareness and he scored goals last year in Holland.
"He has got the ability to end up in the six-yard box, as we saw with the goal against Wolves.
"That is something that can define a midfielder player from the rest of the group - someone who can not only be very good in the middle of the park, but can arrive in the box and score. Too many midfielders don’t want to go the extra yard, but he does and then things like that happen.
"Without heaping too much on Mason, I think he can be very good for us this season. At 19 years of age, it is all in his hands.”
A glowing reference from one of the finest midfielders of the 21st century.
Harry Wilson
Another loanee from the Premier League who has big things expected of him.
A number of clubs were battling it out for Harry Wilson’s signature after an impressive loan spell at Hull in the second half of last season.
The winger is so highly rated by Liverpool that he was tied down to a five-year contract before moving to Derby last month.
Aged 21 and already a full Wales international, Liverpool’s official website says he ‘has all the hallmarks of typical winger - bags of pace, a great touch, ability and acceleration with the ball at his feet.’
He is another young player keen to learn from Lampard and, if he has a similar impact to the one he had at Hull last term, he could be vital for Derby and become one of the Sky Bet Championship’s most feared wingers.
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Odds correct as of 1100 BST 02/08/18