Signed for a rumoured £400,000 this summer, Malik Mothersille is the latest off the Peterborough attacking conveyor belt, looking to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Ivan Toney, Dwight Gayle and Britt Assombalonga. He joins having scored 12 goals in 37 League One starts for struggling Posh last season and should get plenty more chances for a Stockport side who created 73.1 expected goals last term – the highest in the division.

Mothersille will be competing with Kyle Wootton for a starting berth and although he himself netted 11 goals last season, those came from 17.38 xG, and so he left plenty of goals on the table. Only the divisions’ two top scorers in Charlie Kelman and Jay Stansfield had more chances created for them, so with County smashing their transfer record to bring Mothersille in, it’s clear they have him earmarked as a player who can convert these chances more regularly.

Stockport have a history of improving their league position every season under Dave Challinor, and with big spenders Birmingham and Wrexham no longer up against them, they’ll be targeting the top two and if they’re to get there, Mothersille should have a starring role.

After a disappointing campaign under Steve Evans last season, Rotherham will be hoping that Matt Hamshaw can bring about a return to challenging at the right end of the table. His appointment at the end of the season saw the Millers win four of their last eight games, scoring 12 in the process. The signs are more positive and, in particular, Sam Nombe was a key beneficiary.

Nombe had struggled to make an impact under Evans and his return to the line-up led to him finding the back of the net five times in seven starts for his new boss. At 26, he’s coming into his prime and will be looking to re-create the form he showed for Exeter in 2023 - where he scored 15 goals at this level. 

With only 33-year-old Jordan Hugill to contend with up top for Rotherham, Nombe looks set to get plenty of minutes and if he can show some of the form he demonstrated at the back end of last season, he could well have the best goalscoring season of his career. He’ll also likely be on penalties for the Millers, which only adds to his appeal.

Despite being a veteran at 34 years of age, James Collins showed that he can still cut it at League One level when he signed for Lincoln in January and netted 10 goals in 20 games, with the second-best goals per 90 ratio in the division. His last campaign in the third tier came in 2023/2024 when he scored 14 goals for Derby, he also top scored for Luton in this division, with 25 goals back in 2018/2019. 

Collins is a target-man striker who is lethal in the 18-yard box and whilst his minutes will be managed, he’ll be mentoring the promising Rob Street and so should see plenty of action. The one concern is that under Michael Skubala, Lincoln struggled to create chances last season, however, a change in formation in pre-season saw them hit West Brom for four at the weekend and if they can produce more chances, Collins is certainly capable of finishing them. 

The final piece of the puzzle here is that Collins will be Lincoln’s penalty taker, which makes his price even more of a standout. Having won this award in the not-too-distant past, his rate of a goal every two games for the Imps means he has to be backed.

Having lost many of the key players who made them so strong last season, Leyton Orient have a job on their hands if they’re to match their previous campaign which saw them fall just short of promotion in the play-off final. Perhaps most important is replacing the 21 goals from the divisions’ top scorer Charlie Kelman.

With the O’s looking light up top, returning forward Josh Koroma has an opportunity to be their talisman. The Sierra Leone international has never been a prolific finisher, although most of his EFL appearances have come in the Championship and he’s often played out wide. Last season saw him play a key role at this level for a Huddersfield team who were disappointing for the duration, and he still bagged 11 goals.

If Richie Wellens does trust Koroma to lead the line for the London side, he’ll be playing in a role where Kelman had a higher number of expected goals created for him than any other League One player last season.

6ft 5in striker Harry Smith certainly imposed himself on League Two last season, scoring 15 league goals, a career high seasonal tally in the EFL.

Smith has racked up almost 200 appearances in the fourth tier, scoring goals at a rate of 0.35 per 90. He looks set to be the main focal point for Ian Holloway’s Swindon Town this season, which makes him of particular interest in this market, given that Swindon scored the third most goals between Holloway’s arrival and the season's end.

There has been rumoured interest from fellow League Two side Cambridge United, which could take Smith away from free-flowing Swindon and into a more attritional style of play, but the bet would still be live, and The U’s could have a better season overall than Swindon in any case. Holloway has been quite insistent that Smith is not for sale, which shows his worth to The Robins.

Smith has hit double figures in three of his last four seasons at this level, and I fancy him to better last season's tally this time around.

Shrewsbury return to League Two after a torrid 2024/25 season, where they finished 14 points adrift of safety after winning just eight games all season.

One player who impressed though was John Marquis, now a veteran of the 3rd and 4th tiers of English football at age of 33. He reached 11 goals, which is a good return for a poor side. This will be Marquis' first taste of League Two since 2016/17, when he scored 26 league goals for Doncaster.

I’m not expecting too much from Shrewsbury, but they certainly shouldn’t win more than eight games this season. Marquis doesn’t face much competition to lead the line, and will be on penalty kicks as he was last season. His physical style should be more suited to League Two than League One, and I can see him scoring 15+ goals, which should put him in the Golden Boot race.

I liked what I saw from Hugill in a loan spell with Carlisle at the end of last season, albeit he only managed two goals in 17 appearances. Those two goals came from 3.4xG, so he left a little on the table, with an xG per 90 of 0.36.

Hugill started the 24/25 season on loan at Wigan in League One, scoring 3 goals in 13 apps. His xG per 90 was around the same level at 0.39, but he actually scored at a rate of 0.45 per 90, which perhaps shows what he is capable of with more confidence.

The Man United youngster, who was plucked from Sunderland aged 16, now finds himself back in League Two on loan at Barnet. Promoted as Champions from the National League, Barnet scored 97 goals, and 91 the season before when they finished 2nd, so they are a team capable of creating plenty of chances, albeit at the level below. The likes of Wrexham, Notts County and Chesterfield have shown that a good National League side can be ready to compete in the top half of League Two.

Hugill may have to wait for an in, but if he can get off to a good start, he might finally start to realise his potential.