Well here we are again . . .up and running with another long and exciting League One campaign ahead of us.

But I'm pleased to say that we've gone into the new campaign in good shape after all our pre-season preparations went pretty much to plan.

We had two very good tours to Sweden and Holland. The Scandinavian tour was used mostly for fitness work, making sure the players that return from the summer break with a few unwanted pounds lost the excess!

We were able to put on three sessions a day, including fat burning sessions in the gym; balance work for the prevention of injuries and a strengthening programme.

On our return we were able to gradually increase our high intensity football work before our trip to Holland and by the end of pre-season programme most of the squad members had played three 45 minutes and two 90 minute games.

The players wore heart monitors throughout to identify the high intensity work required to reach our peak at the end of pre-season and culminating in our trip to Oldham.

We may not have come away with the desired result, but I thought our fitness levels were excellent.

But I didn't have any doubt about it. The results we had from the players' bleep tests were the best I've known in the last eight years, while our fat club results were also excellent with body fat down to our target of under 10 per cent.

Without tempting fate, our injuries are also at a minimum. The only scare over the summer saw Garry Monk pick up an ankle injury in Holland, but he recovered well ahead of schedule to play a full game against Walsall in midweek.

Kevin Amankwaah (toe) and Tom Butler (hamstring) are also back in training, while Owain Tudur Jones (knee) and Darren Way (shin) should be available for selection at the beginning of September.

Paul Anderson also picked up a slight hamstring strain against Walsall in midweek, but it doesn't look serious.

All that's left for me to say is thank you to all those involved in organising the games and fitness programmes out in Sweden and Holland. Those concerned more than matched our demands with regards to facilities, accommodation and nutritional requirements.

It gave us a good foundation to launch our new assault on League One.

Enjoy the season