City will get their 24/25 Sky Bet League One season underway on Saturday 10 August as they travel to the Pirelli Stadium to take on Burton Albion (5.30pm KO).
Find out everything you need to know about the match including the thoughts of Michael Skubala and Paudie O’Connor in our new-look match preview pack.
Michael Skubala's thoughts
“When you get into the season, that’s the real stuff. We’ve had a good pre-season but it’s not the same feeling as stepping out for that first league match.
“It’s been good to get minutes into the legs and improve the players’ understanding of our style and how we want to play. It was also great to get the group connected and thinking as one.
“That’s always evolving and this team has a lot of room to grow, but we’re in a good place going into game one.
“I’m looking forward to Saturday. It’s going to be a tough challenge with the changes Burton have made with their new manager and the amount of players they’ve signed in the summer.
“A lot of these teams will be different from the last time we played them, so there’s a lot of new challenges ahead.”
Paudie O'Connor’s take
“I’m looking forward to getting going on Saturday. It’s been a good five or six weeks through pre-season, with plenty of games and minutes.
“The boys have come through and are raring to go. Up until this point it's been about the gaffer getting his principles of play across to not only the new lads but the ones that were here before too in a bit more detail.
“The club has done really well getting a lot of the business done early in the window.
“The majority went to Spain with us, and that was very helpful as they had a lot of time on the grass and had the opportunity to build those strong bonds before our first game of the season against Burton.”
A look at the opposition
City’s most recent victory against the Brewers came in February where Skubala’s ten men prevailed thanks to Reeco Hackett’s second-half strike.
Burton will be a much different proposition this time around however with a new-look squad led by the recently-appointed Mark Robinson.
A remarkable 20 new faces have come through the door at the Pirelli Stadium, making the Brewers somewhat of an unknown quantity going into the 24/25 campaign.
Match information
City will give a competitive debut to their white away strip on Saturday afternoon. Click here to buy yours now.
Referee Edward Duckworth will lead a match officials team consisting of Kenwyn Hughes and Oliver Spender as assistant referees while William Davis will operate as the fourth official.
There will be no tickets available to purchase on the day.