Football League and Conference Predictions

League Two Who do you expect to be promoted?

DS: Portsmouth are the obvious choice, but probably not as champions. Fleetwood and Chesterfield have also made strong summer signings – Chesterfield seem to have the strongest squad, and Paul Cook seems talented at drilling his players into a stylish type of football.LW: Portsmouth (Champions), Northampton and Scunthorpe (Automatic) and Cheltenham (Play-offs).DR: Portsmouth, with even reasonable off-field management, should be making an immediate return to League One. Fleetwood seem to have spent big, and Oxford and Plymouth are both capable of promotion if they get a good start to the season.

Who do you expect to be relegated?

LW: AFC Wimbledon and Accrington Stanley.DS: Dagenham and Accrington are the obvious bets, two of the smaller teams with inexperienced managers. Burnett didn’t do particularly well for Dagenham last season.DR: Dagenham seem to have been riding their luck for the past few years, and with manager Wayne Burnett having made a huge step up from non-league, this could finally be the year they drop out of the Football League. James Beattie hardly strikes me as manager material, so Accrington might join them. I wouldn’t be averse to Exeter struggling either; manager Paul Tisdale is becoming increasingly unpopular there and seems intent on bringing up their lack of cash as often as possible.

Who do you expect to be top scorer?

DS: Dave Kitson at Oxford – I’m surprised he’s dropped this low. Jamie Cureton at Cheltenham could be an outside shot.LW: Oxford’s Alfie Potter or Burton’s Billy Kee.DR: As a Torquay fan, I’m hoping Karl Hawley will be up there (or failing that, our loan signing Callum Ball). Realistically, though, Plymouth new boy Marvin Morgan or Portsmouth’s Tom Craddock should do well.

Which team do you expect to exceed people’s expectations? DS: Wycombe fans seem to be pretty positive from what I’ve seen, and they had some good runs under Ainsworth last year, so maybe a surprise play-off spot.LW: Torquay. Following a play-off finish in 2011/12, last campaign was a bit of a disaster and they’ll want to do better.DR: At the risk of cursing our entire season, I’ll be hopeful and say Torquay. Alan Knill’s honesty and more entertaining style of play has brought a new era of optimism to Plainmoor, and his signings – Hawley, Ball and Krystian Pearce among them – are all improvements on last year’s squad.

Which player do you expect to be a surprise success?

DR: Rochdale winger Matt Done, who’s joined them from Championship side Barnsley, should have a bit too much quality for League Two full-backs.LW: Not a surprise but as a Barnet fan, I’ll be looking out for how Ricky Holmes (now of Portsmouth) does. Injury-prone, but on his day: a tricky winger who knows where the goal is.DS: James Constable seems to have been applying his physical ability inconsistently in recent years, but with Dave Kitson to learn from, he could push on and have a great season. If that’s not enough of a surprise, then Hartlepool’s teenage striker Luke James to just about break double figures while being an absolute menace.

Any other predictions that you think will make you look really insightful in nine months time?

DS: I’d be surprised if Paul Tisdale lasts the season at Exeter – even if he turns down Swindon, I’d imagine someone else will poach him during the season.DR: The Only Way is Essex wannabe Phil Brown to leave Southend half-way through the season to pursue an acting career, Portsmouth fans to have a civil war if they somehow end up in admin again, and Paul Tisdale to have the trendy cravat whipped off his shiny head by a disgruntled Exeter fan when they go 3-0 down at home to Morecambe.