NOBODY knows just what will unfold over the summer but one thing that is for sure is that the team that starts the season on Saturday, August 8, will be very different to the one that stepped out in front of more than 20,000 expectant fans at Wembley.

With six loan players, Andy Williams and Wes Foderingham out of contract, and the likes of Massimo Luongo expecting to earn big money moves, there will be a big re-building project taking place at the County Ground.

However skipper Nathan Thompson is confident his side can restructure over the closed season and come back hungrier for success after their play-off final disappointment.

“A lot of them will go back to their loan clubs and we don’t know what will happen in the off season with the boys. Those that remain here will come back and we will learn from an experience like this,” said the 24-year-old to the Adver.

“It is difficult to look at the positives.

“Seeing them celebrate and lift that trophy, it is where we wanted to be.

“They are a young bunch of lads and if that didn’t make them hungrier, seeing Preston lift the trophy, then I don’t know what will.

“It has been a successful season and I said it to the lads on Friday night at dinner.

“Everybody had written us off, the media had said we weren’t capable of getting to the play-offs, but we have gone and achieved that and it is extremely commendable.

“We will build on it and learn from the experiences and the boys that are left will certainly be raring to go next season.”

Thompson will had a scan on the hamstring injury which forced him off in just the third minute of the final yesterday, but will make sure he takes the time to recover properly over the summer.

“I’m a bit of a regular at the hospital at this moment in time,” he added.

“We’ll see the extent of it. I have six weeks now to get it right.

“Sometimes hamstrings can be a little bit deceiving, the fact that you think they are ok, they have passed all the tests and then bang.

“I will make sure it is right because I don’t want a reoccurrence of this one.”