Wolves fitness coach Tony Daley reckons the players are ‘up with the larks’ in a bid to catch out Premier League opposition next season.
Mick McCarthy’s Championship-winning squad, who started pre-season training on Monday, have been in for training before breakfast from Tuesday onwards this week, as a kick-off to gruelling three times daily sessions at Compton Park.
Daley said: “They’ve been at 8.30am for a gym session, followed by breakfast then outside for the fitness and football work later on.
“The gaffer (McCarthy) and TC (assistant manager Terry Connor) give us the advice on what sort of intensity they are looking at and it’s worked out really well.”
The early starts haven’t prevented the players looking bright and sharp even at this early stage.
Daley said: “It’s been a good week back. They’ve all had their programmes to do during the summer and have been back a couple of times to be tested including last week.
“They’ve all come back in good shape. The whole idea about the summer programme and the testing is to get the players in a position where they can get the balls out on the first day and that happened.
“That’s what we want to aim for and that’s what happened – they came back in really great condition and we’re really pleased with them.”
Wolves were regarded as the fittest team in the Championship last season, but Daley wants the players to be even better prepared for the rigours of the Premier League.
He said: “Our aim is to better what we’ve done before to try to give ourselves an advantage.
“The lads are always pretty fit but it’s important – especially if we’re playing against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United – that we’re able to go for 95 minutes and not 85.
“It’s just fine-tuning to last year’s programme and we certainly don’t suddenly go ‘OTT,’ because we’re in the Premier League.
“But we’ve all got our heads together and drawn up ideas for things we’ve been able to do, to just maybe improve the fitness side that little bit more.”
Daley is adopting subtle changes to the player’s routines to prepare them for their first season in the top flight.
He said: “It’s not massively different to what we did last season, but we’re hoping for some improvements.
“I know there’s the thought that fitness-wise it’s tougher in the Championship, because of all the games.
“But at the same time you’ve got to remember that the players in the Premier League are as fit if not fitter than us.”
Daley acknowledges that the days of running endless laps around the pitch in pre-season are long gone.
He said: “Of course we’ve had to do some running, but they don’t want to just be plodding around the pitches for four and five days, so it’s important to get some football work into them as well.
“The footballs are the incentive for the players, but don’t get me wrong they’ve got to do the fitness work as well.
“One day the emphasis might be more on the running with the football the recovery part, another day it might be the opposite way around.
“Everything is combined in the programme, but all the time the players are monitored with the heart rate monitors to see how they are progressing.
“There’s also the gym work that the players do, but as I’ve said before that’s not to get a ‘body beautiful’ – it’s with an emphasis on power and strength that’s football-related.
“The lads have seen the benefits of that. It’s short and sharp in the gym and works quite well.”
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