At the end of last season Stephen Pressley told his player to be fit when they returned for the start of pre-season training. The players were told what was expected of them and now, as they return to Ryton today, Pressley is confident that they will be ready for the gruelling programme of tests and fitness work.
The eight players axed from the squad, will not be reporting back today, they will return on Monday where they will train separately from the squad until they find new club’s
Pressley does not believe many, if any of his players will return to training short of the required levels of fitness.
Pressley told the Coventry Telegraph, “Many of the players have been back in over the last couple of weeks and they look in good condition and I’m excited by that.
“Pre-season fitness is an area that has significantly changed over the years. It was seen as a complete shut-down for some players and people would come back and use the pre-season to get from almost zero level of fitness to tip-top condition, but there’s a far more professional outlook these days.
“When they come in they will all be in reasonably good shape and then we start adding to that in terms of strength and power, but if they come back in good condition there’s the opportunity to really drive them on.”
Pressley revealed details of the training regime, saying, “We have fitness testing this morning and afternoon including body composition screening, jump tests, yoyo tests, movement tests and upper body strength and conditioning testing, and that will give us their base levels and then we’ll work towards improving them.
“The important thing for the players is that within the club there will be a minimum base level for them to reach and they’ll not be aware of that, to be honest. But they have had off-season programmes to follow and the signs are that they very much have followed them.
“One thing we have to be is a very competitive team in the physical sense and we have to reach certain levels if we want to play a certain type of game. If they don’t reach those levels then they’ll have to do additional fitness work.”
The players will train today (Friday) and Saturday then have Sunday off.
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/football-news/coventry-city-players-set-hit-4729411
Source: Coventry MAD
Source: FOOTYMAD
