Plymouth Argyle boss Paul Sturrock believes his squad is better prepared to face the challenges of the Championship than this time last year.

The Scot knows that neither fans nor the new Argyle board will tolerate another battle against relegation.

And ahead of Saturday's opener against Crystal Palace, Sturrock said his team can be a competitive force this term.

"It's always hard to make a decision but I think we're a better team than we were last season," he said.

Plymouth finished 21st in the Championship in 2008/9, just one place above the drop zone.

A foreign-led consortium took a majority shareholding in the club in July, since when the Pilgrims have been busy in the transfer market.

It's important that we start the season properly and get a settled team Paul Sturrock

"The new board haven't refused anything I've asked of them so far," Sturrock said. "So we'll have to wait and see.

"The important thing is that we've had a discussion about things and you've got to keep to a budget and movement has to go both ways.

"A lot of players have been coming in and I've got to start moving some out," he added.

Five new faces have been added to the squad during pre-season, but the Pilgrims have already lost high-profile signing Bradley Wright-Phillips for up to two months, due to a knee injury picked up in a friendly.

And in a squad that lacks any notable stars, Sturrock knows that creating a strong 'team spirit' and a 'will to win' will be vital to Plymouth's success.

606: DEBATE This year I think we'll finish...13th easterngreen

He said: "It's important that we start the season properly and get a settled team, then I'm confident we're going to be competitive in this league.

"We won a certain amount of games early on last season and after 20 games we were fifth in the league.

"But after 13 more games we were in the bottom five - that's how Jekyll and Hyde we were last season."

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