3/1 To Win
Charles Vernam says he is excited to be pushed through his pain threshold again in pre-season after missing out last year.
The young Derby County forward sacrificed his summer and worked tirelessly to ensure he would be fit and ready for pre-season training.
A knee injury ended his season early while on loan at Grimsby Town, but Vernam was determined to be ready for the start of July after specialists said a return then would be a possibility.
“To be able to come back in a good frame of mind and good shape physically is a big positive,” he told RamsTV.
“It’s been a busy summer, a lot like it was the summer before with the injury.
“It was frustrating but it has been a good opportunity to get in extra work with the physio and SNC team who again have been absolutely brilliant. Some of them have given up their summer as well as me.
“To get that work in was really important. We strengthened the knee up a lot and made it so I could come into pre-season which was always the aim. I think I have come back in good shape, I feel fit and a lot stronger than I did.”
The 21-year-old isn’t taking this pre-season for granted after the frustrations of missing last year.
Though its renowned for long gruelling sessions and pushing the body to its limit, Vernam is excited to feel that exhaustion again, knowing it will pay off throughout the season.
“I missed it, I missed the feeling of being put through that pain threshold and feeling like you are getting fitter and stronger. It’s really nice to be back and go through that with the lads,” he said.
“Training has been really good and I think everyone has kept up with their fitness work over the summer. No one is behind so that’s always a good start to pre-season.”
The message drilled into the academy players by Darren Wassall is to go out in these first weeks to impress and create opportunities to break into the first-team.
While the majority of the Under-23s are yet to meet new manager Frank Lampard and his staff, Vernam has already had his first chance to get on Lampard’s radar.
Before the senior side set off for their camp in Tenerife, they had a couple of days at home to kick-start their pre-season.
Vernam, who made his first-team debut in the 2016/17 season, was also in attendance and experienced first-hand the level of intensity the new coaching staff require.
“I was incredibly grateful for that opportunity. It would have been incredibly easy to go with people who were fit all last season,” Vernam said.
“It boosted my confidence as well to come straight back into that environment and to get up to speed with them straight.
He added: “They demand intensity, they demand work rate, which is what you need in Championship football. To become the player that I want to become then that’s what it needs to be.
“If every training session is the same as those then it will make it a lot easier to take to the pitch knowing that you have had that intensity in the sessions before.”
