Swansea City players prepared to hit the ground running for pre-season

It may be the Championship off-season, but Swansea City’s players will still be putting themselves through their paces before they return for pre-season training in June.

The Swans squad are currently away from the club’s Fairwood base as they spend precious time with their friends and families before preparations begin for the new campaign.

But that does not mean there will not be a fitness regime for them to follow, with head of physical performance Matt Willmott having designed off-season programmes for each player to follow so that they can be ready to hit the ground running when pre-season gets under way.

And head coach Russell Martin hopes the work put in during this spell will pay dividends as he seeks to make the most of his first pre-season as Swans boss.

“Pre-season is pretty much planned and we are excited. The fixtures are being finalised. We are looking forward to working with the group and having time to implement things,” said Martin.

“We want to set out how we are going to work as a group, and what we want to stand for and be known for.

“We want to condition the players to play our way from day one, rather than building the plane in flight like we had to last season.

“We will have six weeks of really hard, intense work. Hopefully it will be enjoyable, and we can show people the journey from day one.

“It will put us in a good place for the start of the season. The players have been given a brilliant programme to follow by Matt Willmott and the gang.

“The players know they need to come back ready. It’s important they switch off and do what they want for a week or two, but you have to condition yourself to be ready for pre-season to hit the ground running.

“The guys are really diligent and hard working, and I am sure we will see the benefit of that.”