“Tough” – that’s what the MK Dons players can expect from pre-season training as they get ready to return to work.
Robbie Neilson’s side are set to report for testing on Tuesday ahead of their first pre-season training session the following Friday.
But while the players are expected to be put through their paces, don’t expect to see pictures and videos of them running marathons!
“It will be tough but not tough just for the sake of it,” Head of Sports Science John Hill told iFollow MK Dons.
“The game has certainly moved on from the days of running up and down sand dunes and golf courses. We’ll certainly be taking a scientific approach to the way we develop fitness.
“With the way Robbie wants the team conditioned and how we want to play football, their pre-season is going to be different to what they’ve experienced before.
“There will be a lot more football-specific work and we’ll get the footballs out pretty early. They are footballers so it’s important we predominantly train them through football.”
He added: “The aim is to get the players as fit as possible in the shortest time possible but as safely as possible.”
Hill and the Dons’ backroom team will have six weeks to prepare the players before they take to the field for their Sky Bet League One opener on Saturday 5th August and the aim during that period is pretty clear.
“The aim is to get the players as fit as possible in the shortest time possible but as safely as possible.
“We work together as a big team, striving for one goal which is to make sure the players are as fit as they can be –if we aspire to be the fittest team in the league then that should give us an advantage on the pitch.”
