Stevenage are much better prepared for League One this time around says chairman Phil Wallace - and he says he is hoping to utilise a mid-table budget to help achieve their goals.

Boro went straight from the Conference to the third tier in successive seasons last time around, managing the latter in 2011, and they stayed there for three seasons.

But while there was only one real tilt at promotion in the meantime until this year's successful campaign, the intervening years have helped Wallace and the board improve a lot of the infrastructure around the club.

And he is excited to see what Boro can do next season.

Speaking at a fans' forum at the Lamex, the chairman said: "Oh, we're definitely more equipped for it. I mean, we were deers in the headlight last time. 

"We're emotionally prepared for it now, we're financially better, the stadium is better, everything is better, 

"Mentally we are in tune with it."

Part of that is from a financial point of view, something they clearly went prepared for 12 years earlier.

Wallace said: "The uplift you get between League One and League Two is not huge and everything goes up. 

"When we were in League One last time, we were worse off financially, probably the worst three years we’ve ever had. 

"It's not the Holy Grail from a financial point of view and we have to operate under what's called the SCMP [the Salary Cost Management Protocol]. 

"That basically says you're allowed to spend 60 per cent of your income on players so the big clubs have a really big advantage because they because they can spend more. 

"Our income is actually quite good for a League Two side because we've got a lot of off-field income, good commercial income. 

"We'll go into the season with a much bigger budget than we've got this year and we will fund the club with additional money.

"We are looking to get above a mid-table budget next season but it will involve some investment and that will probably come from me into the club as equity, so it is not repayable, it’s not a debt. 

"It’ll gives us a fighting chance next season so we think we'll be alright and we think we could surprise a few people. 

"It'll be great to be in League One but I'd rather be at the top of League One rather than at the bottom and I think we can."