With no relegation from the Premier Division this season - owing to the FAI’s radical plan to revamp the league - there is less pressure on the promoted clubs to scrap tooth-and-nail for survival. Not, though, that Sligo Rovers manager Sean Connor was predicting a dog fight for his emerging side.
Rovers are back in the top flight for the first time in six seasons and there is real optimism in the North West that the club, winners of the First Division last season, can etch their mark amongst the big boys.
"As a manager you want to compete against the best and this is where its at," says Connor who is confident his team will mix and match it. "This club has been screaming for top flight football for a long time now."
All too often, though, promoted clubs struggle to keep their heads above water. Take, for instance, Finn Harps who, after edging the First Division by a single point, struggled in every department in the top flight last season, eventually slipping back down when comprehensively rooted to the foot of the table.
Financial constraints meant Harps had added just a sprinkling of fresh faces in the close season and although Sligo are not exactly flush these days, Connor has nevertheless managed to add an impressive nine players to his party.
"I've tried to sign young, technically gifted players many of whom have come from England where they were getting first team football," he explains. "I've not had a huge budget at my disposal but these players have a lot of enthusiasm and I'm excited by what I've seen so far."
The Belfast man is, however, reluctant to set targets ahead of the new season. Still though, despite losing some of last season's squad, he believes he has a group which can initially consolidate its position in the top flight and eventually progress to winning silverware of some kind, like the club did in 1994 when lifting the FAI Cup.
"This season is something I'm really looking forward to," he says. "When I came to Sligo, promotion was always one of my main objectives. We're certainly not frightened of the challenge ahead. Instead, we're fit and organised and will play with confidence."
Curbing that enthusiasm with a pinch of realism is another matter however. Chris Turner, the former Northern Ireland under-19 captain, has signed from Derby County while Republic of Ireland youth defender Gavin Peers is on board from Mansfield. Both are superb signings but, as Connor suggests, it may well take a few games before the duo, not to mention the other seven signings, find their feet.
"Every game we'll improve but also learn something from our mistakes but I've still got the core of a squad that won the First Division and they're used to winning. Carrying that winning mentality into our first few games will be beneficial.
"All of this is a fantastic challenge for me personally and I feel I'm improving steadily as a manager but still, I'm all too aware that in this game you're only as good as your last game."
Sligo open their campaign away to Longford Town on Saturday evening.
