Lewis Cox: My time has come with Villa!

Even for those of us who only play weekend football in the park, pre-season is an unforgiving time.

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A vicious time, lurking, ready to bite you on the backside the moment you put your boots back on in July or whenever.

I've played football for more than 10 years now, but due to work commitments last season was rather broken up.

So while Charlemont Star battled on without me in the West Midlands Christian League, I was busy getting unfit!

So, naturally, when the Express & Star sports desk were notified of an event to put reporters through their paces, there was only one candidate.

I'd barely finished digesting two weeks all-inclusive in Tenerife. The event at Villa's training base at Bodymoor Heath was thoroughly excellent.

However, the thrill of a bursting bag containing a load of fresh gear from new kit supplier Under Armour was quickly banished later on in the evening when my already-gammy groin began to ache.

Encouraged by the standard of kit they'd allowed us to trial, we gingerly took to the immaculate indoor centre. With a carpet-like surface, there wasn't much excuse for misplaced passes.

With all the talk of 'pampered' academy graduates in English football these days – particularly following the disastrous Euro 2016 campaign – I was keen to sample a taster of the academy lifestyle.

Villa under-21 and under-18 coaches Ben Petty, Olly Needham and Matthew Parker have played a big part in the rise of Jack Grealish, Ciaran Clark and Gabby Agbonlahor.

The running drills were knackering. I was blowing after a few shuttle runs but held it together somehow. It was a welcome relief when the coaches got the footballs out!

We formed a diamond and were ordered into a two-touch passing drill. One touch to control and open your body up, the next to pass it off.

We were (mostly) a large selection of members of the media – young and old, small (and larger) – the standard was somewhat hit-and-miss.

But the coaches were first class. They had been at Bodymoor for around 10 years and were not about to let us slacken during the session.

They let us know that the intensity would rival that of an academy session and boy did we feel it! "Quicker, quicker!" There was no time to catch your breath.

I was pretty pleased with my passing, as were the academy guys, which was confidence-boosting.

But, at 22, any realistic aims of impressing the Villa onlookers were long gone. Jamie Vardy may have been a late bloomer, but he has (at least) half a yard more pace than me.

As with any training session, we inevitably ended up taking our positions for a kickabout.

While everybody placed themselves in some never-seen-before formation, there was an unerring sense of competitiveness.

Bursting into the penalty area in some uncharacteristic attempt to fashion a goalscoring opportunity (it almost brought on a nosebleed!) was followed by heroic acts of tracking back to preserve our clean sheet.

There was no holding back. I crowned the evening off with the game's final goal, probably doubling my actual tally from the past few season.

Our photographer, John Sambrooks, had left by then, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Mercifully, we were all allowed to catch our breath and stretch out any gathering lactic acid in the most professional way possible.

Just like those ever looked-after youngsters signed to the Villa academy, the conditioning coaches gave examples of different recovery procedures.

Muscles were being attacked that most of us didn't know existed.

The 'oohs' developing from the group of media athletes at least seemed to be keeping the Villa and Under Armour staff entertained.

To top it off, we were handed a Villa document that was given to all youngsters at the club, from the ages of nine and above.

It contained pages of how to stay hydrated along with all sorts of nutritional advice – more than you could begin to stomach.

One of the coaches hit the nail on the head with 'you'll find a few of those in the recycling bin tomorrow morning.' That will probably do for my pre-season.