Dale’s preparations for 2016-17 season charged full steam ahead on Monday as the players returned to Spotland for the start of pre-season.
The squad will complete three days of endurance work before flying out to Tenerife on Thursday for the week long training camp.
Speaking on Monday afternoon, Manager Keith Hill told Dale PlayerHD that he’s pleased with the work done during day one.
“We’re doing basic endurance work during the first three days, and once we’ve done that then we’ll really crack on while we’re in Tenerife," Hill told Dale PlayerHD.
“It’s only day one and the players are probably feeling their way through, but I’m really pleased with the outcome.
“The lads look in good shape and there’s no pressure at the minute, just as long as we’re ready for the first game of the season. We’re just getting people up to speed and making sure the messages that we preach haven’t been lost during the course of the holiday period.
“The players look in good shape and they’re in good spirits – a lot of them were ready to come back, so we’re looking forward to kicking on."
He continued: “The first day is always a nervous day whether you’re new, old or haven’t been part of the squad before.
“It’s setting the standard out. The organisation has got to be perfect from a staff point of view to show the players that we mean business and that we know what we’re talking about.
“But it’s always a nervous day for the players and it can be a bit unexpected in terms of whether they’ve done enough over the summer etc, but I think they’ll have got a good bearing on their own capabilities with respect to how far in front or how far behind they are compared to this time last year.
“It’s difficult for the new players because they’ve got nothing to marker against but from an integration point of view it's brilliant bringing a new squad together. There aren’t many new faces but we’ve got one or two new trialists in who have got ridiculous ability and we’re trying to integrate them in.
“It’s good.”
The full interview is on Dale PlayerHD.