Southampton fans don't have long to wait now until the brand-new Championship season kicks off.
Indeed, we are about two weeks away now from the Saints' trip to Watford to kick off the fresh second tier campaign, with a bumper following from the South Coast expected to fill out Vicarage Road, eager to see their side back in action.
It has been a productive pre-season so far, with Tonda Eckert's men beating Eintracht Braunschweig 1-0 out in Germany, with Damion Downs scoring a delightful solo strike to break the deadlock.
All of a sudden, Downs - who had been written off as a goalless flop - now has a way back into the first team picture at St. Mary's, with the striker ranks at the Saints not full to the brim with numbers.
Even if the striker numbers aren't plentiful, though, a couple of Southampton attackers have been tipped to be in the golden boot conversation this coming season.
The Saints attackers in the golden boot race
A new Daily Echo article has looked over some of the main contenders for the golden boot race, with both Cyle Larin, and Cameron Archer's named as Southampton figures to look out for, according to the bookies.
Larin's suggestion does make a lot of sense, as he arrived to England mid-way through last season like a beast possessed, hammering home eight Championship goals from only ten league starts.
If he can keep up this ridiculous vain of form over a full season, which does feel slightly unrealistic, he will most definitely be in that conversation to collect the golden boot, which is currently held by Swansea City star, Zan Vipotnik, who bagged 23 strikes last campaign.
Archer's name being thrown about is a bit more of a stab in the dark, as he has struggled to be consistently potent on the South Coast, as evidenced in his weak four goal tally last season for Eckert and Co.
Rumours do continue to swirl in the air that he could be leaving, so perhaps a clean break elsewhere can reawaken a golden boot winner out of Archer, with 11 goals from 20 games at Middlesbrough during the 2022/23 season the sort of outrageous form that places you near the top of the congested standings.
Larin and his wantaway counterpart will have their work cut out for them, as there are several other sharpshooters in the competitive division, all wanting to be the top dog.
The other Championship strikers to watch out for
Will Lankshear will certainly want to be the near the top of the charts, with 11 goals last season for Oxford United leading to the former Tottenham Hotspur youth product being picked up by Middlesbrough for a crazy £20m fee this summer.
Southampton were noted as being in the race for Lankshear's services, but he has decided to link up with Kim Hellberg's camp instead, meaning games between Boro and the Saints next season will have yet another additional bit of spice thrown into the mix.
The aforementioned Vipotnik will also want to reclaim what is his and collect back-to-back golden boots.
This will be easier said than done, though, with EFL icon Sylvan Ebanks-Blake amazingly the last striker to pull off such a feat, when scoring a combined 48 goals between 2007 and 2009 for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
At the end of the day, promotion can be won without having a ridiculous marksman leading the line.
Indeed, Haji Wright would collect 17 goals in total as Coventry City's top scorer last campaign, which is a little off the Slovenian's pace in Wales, but the Sky Blues still stormed to the title.
But, it would be great if the likes of Larin stepped up and scared the entire league stiff, all while a path to the Premier League opened up.
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