Liam Keen comment: Wolves training talking points from Portugal pre-season

Battling temperatures of more than 30 degrees without a single cloud in sight, Vitor Pereira was hands on as his squad worked hard in the Algarve sunshine.

The Express & Star is following Wolves every step of the way this week in Portugal and was given exclusive access to Monday's full morning training session as they prepare for the upcoming Premier League season.

Competitiveness

There were plenty of things that stood out during the session - which lasted roughly one hour 45 minutes - but the competitiveness among the players stood out more than anything.

After some warm-ups and small sided possession drills to get the players moving, Pereira and his coaches began to increase their workload.

Reaction drills using coloured cones brought out the players' personalities and the competitive juices began to flow when the occasional player made a mistake by reacting too early.

That led on to an unusual game that brought the best out of the squad.

Four full-sized goals were set up in small space, with one goalkeeper in each and three teams made up of the outfield players.

What ensued was an intense and competitive scoring game between the three teams, as Pereira and his coaches refereed and enforced the rules.

Each team was desperate to win, every goal was celebrated and the fast-paced match was thoroughly enjoyed by the players - particularly the winning team. It is a drill that Pereira often does with his players during the season and gets the best out of his squad.

Sam Johnstone made a superb double save from close range and the winning team then proudly posed for some pictures.

Overall, the atmosphere among the squad was positive and Pereira has them in a good place, despite the slow start to the transfer window.

Manager

In every pre-season it is important to watch how the manager behaves and Pereira continues to impress.

As the players were preparing for the training session, the head coach was glued to his tactics board and spent some time alone perfecting his plan.

His input was then evident later in the training session, after the competitive games, when he set the squad up into two sides on a full pitch to focus on the team's shape and working through the thirds.

Pereira was on the pitch, he was hands on with his coaching and demanding of his players.

The final two drills saw the players split up into groups. One worked on set pieces, while the other focused on working the ball through midfield, into attack and scoring goals - before the groups swapped and every player got a taste of both sides.

Pereira stayed with the groups working on the attacking phase of play and was back to the tactics board. 

He worked with Jorgen Strand Larsen and Sasa Kalajdzic on the physical battle with defenders and holding the ball up, while also worked with the wide players on timing their runs and releasing the ball to overlapping wing-backs.

Larsen scored with an outrageous strike into the top corner, which was followed up by Fer Lopez's excellent left-footed finish.

Goncalo Guedes also scored two impressive goals - one with the outside of his boot - as technical director Domenico Teti watched on from the sidelines.

Pereira was demanding and detailed but also seemed keen to keep the players stimulated and avoid them becoming bored.

Returning players

Although there was some disappointing news with youngster Wes Okoduwa flying home after sustaining a minor knee injury, Wolves have been boosted by the impending returns of Kalajdzic and Yerson Mosquera.

Both players missed last season with serious knee injuries and have been working to get back ever since.

They were both fully involved in this training session and took part in every aspect of it - but it was fascinating to see how intense they both trained as they strive for a return to the pitch.

Neither player pulled out of a tackle or took their foot off the gas and Mosquera even did some extra running with one of the backroom staff as the session came to an end.

Kalajdzic is likely to leave on loan this summer, depending on how the transfer window develops, while Mosquera is hopefully going to have a bigger impact on the Wolves first team.

Either way, to see both players back and seemingly in a good place both mentally and physically, is excellent news.