‘We’re Here To Work’

Gary Rowett says Derby County’s week-long training camp in Tenerife has the potential to be a ‘really, really productive week’.

Derby’s players arrived at their training base in the Canary Islands on Sunday evening as part of their pre-season schedule in the lead-up to the 2017/18 Sky Bet Championship season.

Rowett and his backroom team are set to put the players through a number of double sessions in the heat this week as they crank up their preparations for the upcoming campaign.

The 43-year-old feels the opportunity to spend the whole week with his players, both on and off the pitch, will prove to be beneficial.

He told RamsTV in Tenerife: “I think the players were looking forward to getting out here and being all together.

“We’ve got the lads back from their international duties now and they’ve been having a good chat with the ones that came back in last week.

“We have really nice surroundings and facilities. We are here to work and we’re ready to work.

“We have a lot of sessions planned and we also have time where we can do things with groups off the pitch too. There are lots of ways of imparting our philosophy onto the players.”

He added: “There are aims that we have for this week, with the main one getting work done and some real volume into the players in terms of the amount of sessions that we can do.

“It should be a really, really productive week.”

Highlighting what he aims to take away from the week, Rowett has highlighted a number of key factors.

Naturally he wants to work on the physical and tactical side of Derby’s game, but he is also keen to see the togetherness of his squad come to the fore.

He said: “We want to hit certain physical parameters this week and there are a few other things too.

“The togetherness and the fact we’re working hard together can build that team spirit, camaraderie and closeness that you need in the group for success.

“We will also look to implement some of the tactical principles that we want to use during the season.

“We worked on some of those things towards the end of last season and we will modify them going into this new season.

“We won’t go too heavy on it; maybe just two or three tactical sessions while we are out here to feed in those principles both defensively and attacking wise.

“This is a good time to do it as you have the time with the players. We want to use the time as effectively as we can.”