Cambridge United boss Neil Harris outlines some of his planned squad changes ahead of likely League Two campaign

Head coach Neil Harris has insisted that his Cambridge United side will be a ‘completely different animal’ next season.

It has been a tough campaign for the U’s, who have been on the back foot from day one. They failed to win any of their opening nine League One fixtures and while there has been an upturn in form since Harris replaced Garry Monk in February, it would appear that the gap to safety will ultimately be too big to bridge.

Cambridge’s fate could well be sealed in one of two ways tomorrow – either by them failing to win at Burton Albion or by Bristol Rovers picking up maximum points against Reading.

It has also been a term of fine margins, with United having lost by a single-goal margin on 19 different occasions – six of which have come during Harris’ tenure.

And the boss has stressed that he intends to rid the current squad of its ‘soft underbelly’ over the summer.

“We'll be completely different next year. I'm not even comparing this year to next year, and what my team will look like next year,” he said.

“What I will say is my 13 games in charge we've got 15 points, which is more than a point a game and is enough to keep you in a division. And also, our goal difference is zero. That's a huge factor. And that's the frustration.

“We've lost six games by a goal because we've not been slightly more clinical at one end and we have found a way of letting the ball in at the other. And that's where the frustration lies.

“Stevenage were better than us, we were really poor, but the other five defeats, there's not a person who can say we deserved to lose those games. Yes, you do lose games, I accept that, but not five.

“So the team is going to change in the mindset of conceding cheap goals, not scoring enough goals, and also probably having a soft underbelly. We're going to be a completely different animal next year.”