HARRY Pell admits he has settled right in at Accrington Stanley amongst "down-to-earth people" – now he is looking forward to getting down to business.

The summer acquisition, signed from Colchester United, will be a part of the Reds squad that travels to Wycombe Wanderers in the opening League One game of the 2021/22 campaign.

The midfielder is delighted with his new Wham Stadium surroundings and is looking to put all the pre-season hard work in to practice against a side relegated from the Championship last season.

“It’s a pleasure working with great, down-to-earth people,” said Pell, who has signed a three-year deal. “I feel like I have been here a fair few years myself, the boys are fantastic. I had heard loads of good things about the lads before I came here and everything is true.

“I am looking forward to helping the team in any way we can. The team are looking to progress on what we have done last time, we want to go better than that.

“People at the club have put faith in me and I have a long way to go to pay them back.”

Having beaten Blackpool and drawn with Preston, Pell said it has been a good pre-season despite losing their last warm-up game to Bradford on Saturday.

“I am really looking forward to it now, a lot of hard work has gone on behind the scenes and I think we have had a good pre-season,” the 29-year-old told the club website.

“Against Bradford last Saturday, a little bit has been said about the first half but we are looking on it as a positive, that it has come before the season started.

“Everything has fallen into place in pre-season, we have had a solid pre-season, beat some good teams and we have a bit of disappointment where we have lowered our standards a little bit against Bradford and we know we can’t go back there.”

While Stanley prepare to return to action, Pell says he can’t wait to see the return for supporters. “Across all football, the fans have been greatly missed, the game is nothing without the fans, the games didn’t seem real and I am so happy to have that back,” he added.

“I am sure they can play their part at different stages as well.”

The Chairboys, managed by Blackburn-born Gareth Ainsworth, finished 22nd last season after their one campaign in the second tier of English football while Stanley finished 11th in League One.

Pell feels the season opener will be a good marker for Stanley.

“It should be a really good game,” he continued. “Wycombe is a nice marker for us. If we can get a positive result there, it will put us in good stead and it’s one we are looking forward to, playing there, putting our style on the game and seeing where we are at.”