Mark Bonner pulled off a remarkable 2020/21 season in the hot seat at Cambridge United, seeing the U's finish second and earn automatic promotion to League One.

And, the young manager spoke of the tactical changes he is looking to implement for the step up in an interview with CambridgeshireLive.

Yellows are amongst the favourites to be relegated this season as the third tier provides a very different remit for Bonner to adjust to, in his first season at the level.

He said: "You have to respect the level and difference in it, and work out that we’re going to have to be a bit of a different team to be competitive in the league above, because it will look different for us this year.

"One of the ways that will be is sometimes playing with one behind a striker, but we know we can play with a front two, and we know we can play a lot of variations of playing with a back four, and different variations in front."

Bonner sees solidarity in central areas more in a formation that he did not deploy last season, the 4-2-3-1 with two midfielders sitting to protect the back four and win possession in the middle of the pitch looks his chosen tonic.

With magic man Wes Hoolahan still at the club at the age of 39, it is important the U's have the dynamism around him to ensure they can stick in games and compete against the drop, particularly with the unforgiving four team relegation zone in League One.

The gaffer continued: "I think it’ll be harder to play a front two, because of the overloads that will be created in midfield, so I think we’ll see it more often.

"We might look at something a bit different on Tuesday night as well, because I think making sure we don’t get overrun in midfield is important.

"All these little tactical things that we’ve got to work through, we don’t want to go too far away from what made us a strong side last year."

Yellows' campaign begins when they host 2020/21 play-off semi finalists Oxford United next Saturday.

The Verdict

Bonner is clearly a very intelligent young coach, aged just 35, and the challenge of keeping Cambridge in League One will be a great test of his resolve. The seven arrivals so far this window do suit his idea of a 4-2-3-1 system, though he will not be wanting to be letting all his tactical secrets out before the big kick-off.

The most significant problem to solve will be in the goalscoring department, replacing Paul Mullin's 34 goal return, who signed for Wrexham last week, may prove difficult. Not many are giving United a chance in what is a very strong third division this time around, but the ever positive Bonner will see that as motivation to prove the doubters wrong once again.