Nagoya Grampus manager Dragan Stojkovic insists he never considered quitting after a traumatic 2012 season for the former J. League champions, preferring instead to concentrate on reclaiming the crown over the coming campaign.

Grampus went into last season with high expectations having missed out on the 2011 title only on the final day, but it soon became clear that whatever could go wrong for Stojkovic's side, would go wrong in spades. Defeats to relegation strugglers Consadole Sapporo, Albirex Niigata and Gamba Osaka torpedoed Nagoya's title challenge over a miserable summer, before an injury to star striker Josh Kennedy made matters worse as the team limped over the line in seventh.

Amid the gloom, however, Stojkovic has remained upbeat. The Serbian enters his sixth campaign at the helm of the club that he led to its first-ever championship in 2010, and with the new season wiping the slate clean, title ambitions are back on the agenda.