NEAL Ardley insists his AFC Wimbledon squad are raring to go ahead of tomorrow's League Two opener at Torquay United.
The Dons escaped the drop by the skin of their teeth last season following a nail-biting win against Fleetwood steered them to safety on the final day of the campaign.
Boss Ardley cleared the decks at Kingsmeadow and brought in 10 summer signings in a bid to change the club's fortunes.
After an impressive pre-season campaign, Ardley says the Dons can't wait to get going at Plainmoor tomorrow.
He told Dons Player : “We are ready to go. We will get fitter as the season goes on because we are progressing the fitness work gradually.
“If you look at the team now I reckon I could ask six or seven people to pick our starting line-up and they would all choose a different team. That is a great sign because we have a lot of good players to choose from.
“I did not look for any excuses last season in terms of saying that it was not my team.
“I knew that I had to get to January and try and put my own stamp on it with our own players. Thankfully, we got there in the end in what was a very tough league.
“This is now our own team that we have put together and we have set our standards higher. If we do not reach those targets then hopefully everyone will still be happy because we have not ended up in the same position as last season.
“I know that (pressure) comes with the territory and I hope the fans know that they have a manager who cares. I will work my socks off to put together a good team.”
Ardley has a near full-strength squad to choose from, with Will Antwi the only absentee.
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