After taking charge at Elland Road at the end of January - when Dennis Wise jumped ship for Newcastle - McAllister guided the fallen Yorkshire giants into the play-offs.

No mean feat given they began the season on minus 15 points.

McAllister helped Leeds to find form and resilience in equal measure at the perfect time and their huge army of fans headed to the play-off final confident of beating Doncaster and returning to the Championship.

But the manner in which Leeds were generally outplayed and outfought at Wembley in his side's biggest test of the season was tantamount to failure for McAllister.

"Doncaster deserved it on the day," said the Scot after Leeds' second play-off final defeat in three seasons.

With Ken Bates still ruling the roost at Elland Road, McAllister knows he cannot afford another near-miss this time around.

Promotion is the target and nothing else will do.

Jermaine Beckford was Leeds' top scorer last season with 20 goals and should again feature prominently in the scoring charts.

McAllister signed the likes of Andy Robinson, Enoch Showunmi, Alan Sheehan and highly-rated Livingston striker Robert Snodgrass during the summer and his side begin the season as promotion favourites.

Leeds' main rivals appear to be Leicester, another fallen giant whose relegation last season consigned them to the third tier for the first time in their history.

Ian Holloway was subsequently sacked and replaced by Nigel Pearson, who will similarly come under pressure from Leicester chairman Milan Mandaric to deliver promotion.

Pearson has made a number of impressive signings, including Jack Hobbs, Aleksandar Tunchev, Kerrea Gilbert, Lloyd Dyer and Nicky Adams.

But promoted MK Dons and Peterborough lack nothing in ambition and could also have a major say in the promotion race.

New Dons boss Roberto di Matteo has no previous managerial experience but commands respect and he will hope to carry the momentum from last season's title success into the new campaign.

So too will Posh boss Darren Ferguson, but perhaps the dark horses for promotion are Stan Ternent's Huddersfield.

The Terriers are in their centenary year and have sold a staggering 16,000 season tickets, underlining the mood of optimism which has engulfed the Yorkshire club.

Brighton are expected to push for the play-offs following Micky Adams' return as manager while Scunthorpe and Colchester should also be in contention as they seek an immediate return to the Championship.

Carlisle and Southend were defeated in the League One play-off semi-finals last season but are rated as promotion contenders once again.

However, Scunthorpe and Carlisle have been severely weakened by the departure of strikers Martin Paterson and Joe Garner.

That could allow the likes of Tranmere and Oldham to claim a coveted play-off berth.

Rovers have made astute signings in Gareth Edds, Edrissa Sonko, George O'Callaghan, Bas Savage, Luke Waterfall and Godwin Antwi.

Oldham should also challenge more strongly after being ravaged by injury last term, but the likes of Hartlepool, Cheltenham, Crewe and Yeovil could struggle.