Derby County Assistant Head Coach Richie Barker has praised the 'massive effort' from the group so far during their pre-season training camp in Spain.
The team halfway through their week-long camp in the sweltering Alicante heat and Barker says they have been 'excellent' up to now as they edge towards facing Salford City in their second pre-season friendly on Saturday before heading home on Sunday.
Speaking to RamsTV, Barker gave an update on how things have been going and looked ahead at what's to come in the days ahead.
On pre-season training so far...
It's the third day today and the seventh session so it's really starting to take its toll on the lads but, in fairness, in the meetings and with the information we're trying to give over, they've been excellent so it's a massive effort from them all. Some of it is technical and there's a bit of tactical stuff in there, but there's also physical and mental aspects in terms of us stressing to them: don't give in.
On building a togetherness...
It's not individuals that get promotion or get success or win titles or cups, everybody is going to need someone. It's important that the players have an expectation but also a recognition of the other people around them, it's important that they are in good condition as well.
On the evening speeches players are giving to the group...
It gives us an understanding of what's going on behind the scenes with them all. I'm sure somewhere along the line someone will share their issues or problems that they've got with their team-mates or coaches and not just bottle it up. They'll have a better understanding of everyone come the end of it.
On Kane Wilson's arrival...
I think he will be doing his talk in the next couple of days so we'll have more of an understanding about him but as a person he's great, he's buying into the sessions and putting everything in that he can.
On Nathaniel Mendez-Laing's return on Wednesday evening...
We'll be pleased to have him back but I'm sure the lads will too because he's a popular member of the dressing room. It will be exciting for the lads to find out about his experience at the Gold Cup with Guatemala because most of the lads will never have even seen or heard much about it before. He should be pretty acclimatised to the heat from what I can gather as it's been very similar where he's been playing to this. We're all looking forward to hearing his stories though because representing your country in a major tournament is some achievement.
On Conor Washington and Tom Barkhuizen's fitness after staying at home...
Conor is coming on pretty well. He's started doing quite a bit of ball work. Tom hasn't started running yet but he's in the best place at Moor Farm. There was no point in him coming here because back at home he'll be getting one-to-one work and able to work as hard as he can. Joe Ward has felt a tweak in his groin. He didn't travel with us at the start because of a personal issue but, with the niggle, he's staying back for the rest of the week.
On how the rest of the week is panning out...
The players have got some tough sessions on Thursday and Friday and the game on Saturday lunchtime against Salford City. We will make a decision in regards to what we want to get in on the training pitch as we go because, if the heat continues in the afternoon, it can get really difficult to train in.
