With the players back in at the club now, the start of the season is really looming. Keith spoke to the website today about the break, pre-season training, and how the players have handled themselves over the summer.

"We don't get too much time off during the season, and being perfectly honest we don't get the break we deserve, but we're not complaining, and we're well prepared. We've done a little bit of individual analysis this morning, and all the players are looking in good shape. We'll crack on with our first training day tomorrow, which is all preparation for the first game of the season."

With the first day of training taking place tomorrow, Keith talks about what the players will be doing for the next few weeks, and how they will approach match fitness during pre-season.

"It will be a football day. We want to create a football environment. The days of throwing up on the training pitch are long gone. It's very football specific now, and it's geared towards meeting those demands. There's no point in the lads running a 26 mile marathon and then expecting them to play football. It's all structured towards making the players fit enough for that first game of the season."

With the players being weighed on Wednesday morning, it gives the management a good insight into how they have handled themselves over the summer, and how well prepared they are for pre-season.

"We've taken the body fat percent of the players this morning, and they're all absolutely superb. I think you've got to be fit for pre-season now. You have to give yourselves an edge individually and collectively. We've got a five week period now before we play out first competitive league game. Everything else before that counts for nothing. The thing that matters most is the first game at Port Vale, and everything else before that is preparation and speculation."

With Keith and the lads spending time away from the club, how beneficial do they feel the break has been for them?

"It's been very beneficial from a learning perspective. It's given me more of an insight into what's needed to be successful, what we are doing that is successful, and what can give us the edge for next season. It's a fierce environment that we're in. I'm led to believe I'm the second or third longest serving manager, in terms of matches, in the league. We know our industry is ruthless, and predominantly if someone is to blame when things are going wrong it's the manager, and when the manager is doing well, the players are doing well."