Paul Peschisolido spoke to www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk today about the return to pre-season training of his players ahead of the club's second season in the Football League.
The Albion boss was in a happy mood as he reported a good level of fitness amongst his players on returning from their summer break.
"I am absolutely delighted with the condition of the players when they came back in yesterday" said Paul, "I weighed them out at the end of last season and there was going to be a hefy fine if they didnt come back within two kilos of that weight. I am really pleased that every single player came back in at exacrtly the same weight that they left last season at."
With the players having clearly looked after themselves during their time off it meant that Paul and Gary Rowett could press on with their plans to prepare everyone for the first league game of the season against Oxford United on August 7th.
"They have looked after themselves and yesterday we did some physical testing of everybody that everybody more than coped with and that meant that we were able to step it up right away with them. It makes our job a whole lot easier and just shows that everybody is keen, everybody is excited about the new season and that is exactly the attitude that I want from my players." enthused the Brewers manager.
The only players not to take a full part in the early sessions were Ryan Austin, Richard Jackson and Keith Gilroy. All three ended last season with injuries with Austin well on the way to recovery after a serious knee injury, Jackson is still receiving treatment on a troublesome back injury whilst Gilroy is close to a return to full training after successfully undergoing surgery during the summer to cure the injury problems that plagued him last season.
"We have incorporated the fitness work with ball work. We have done some injury prevention and core stability work and some weights to build strength up." explained Paul, "and all of that will give us excellent preparation for the season ahead."
The Brewers boss also hopes to add more new faces to his squad soon and has been linked with moves for Liverpool academy striker James Ellison, Rochdale defender Nathan Stanton and recently released Walsall midfielder Mark Bradley although the manager was staying tight lipped on how close any deals were.
"I am hoping to add some more signings soon but at the moment it is a case of waiting on phone calls." Pesch explained.
One player who will not be joining the Brewers is Scott Rendell. The Peterborough United striker has this week joined League 2 rivals Wycombe Wanderers for an undisclosed fee after being linked with Albion earlier in the summer but Peschisolido confirmed that he is keen to have four strikers in his squad ahead of the new season and gave a warning to his current frontmen to ensure they remain fit.
"I want to have four strikers next season, four fit strikers. Once we have got four fit, and I mean physically fit strikers then we will take it from there. If we can get them all fit then It will be in their hands, if there is a problem with fitness then I will go out and get one (striker).
