TOWN star Lee Novak is now itching for pre-season to start.

The popular 22-year-old striker (left) was a regular substitute towards the end of last season, when Town's promotion hopes collapsed against Peterborough in the League I play-off final at Old Trafford.

Novak admits that defeat still hurts, but he's now looking forward to preparing for the 2011-12 campaign, for which the fixtures are released on Friday (24 hours after the Carling Cup draw is made).

“I’m desperate to get a good pre-season under my belt and to steer clear of injuries,” said Novak, who went on from the bench against Peterborough.

“I had a couple of bad injuries last season which really set me back, so I’m hoping to stay injury-free this next season and do my best for the team.

“If I can keep myself fit, hopefully I’ll be able to get myself into the starting side and score some goals.”