Derby County Head Coach Paul Warne is looking forward to getting back down to business when the Rams take on Newport County in the Second Round of the Emirates FA Cup on Sunday afternoon (3:15pm kick-off).
Warne sat down with RamsTV to preview the return to competitive football after a nine-day break and provided a positive injury update on the squad ahead of the contest with the Sky Bet League Two outfit.
On the days off...
They were excellent. I went back to Norfolk for a few days and the lads all did different things.
We came in on Tuesday and everyone had to send a photo in so I had a collage in the team meeting on Tuesday morning and we talked through the photos of what everyone got up to.
It was just nice to get away. It was a bit like the school holidays when you're buzzing to have some time off but when you come back you're pleased to see everyone and it was a bit like that.
I think the lads are happy to be back on the grass now.
On whether there was more energy in training...
I think so, yes. This week we've actually been allowed to train, not just recover. We've actually been able to train.
You can do loads of things that the normal team preparation doesn't allow you to do. The lads are training without the pressure of getting fatigue in their legs because of a game in 24 hours - they can train like their kids which is the best way to be when you're a footballer.
On the schedule with more days off...
We've been able to just train on specific things that you think certain players need. The defenders were clearing balls and defending crosses. The strikers were doing their runs and back to play and the wide men were putting balls in from different angles. Whereas, when you're recovering from a game, you can't do that because it's physically too much.
On the injury list...
Things are quite good. Tom Barkhuizen is back in now and Jason Knight is back in now too. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Haydon Roberts and Curtis Davies are back on the grass and they could join in training next week - Curtis maybe the week after.
James Chester has had a little bit of a setback so he may be a bit longer.
The rest could return within the next 5-10 days, which is good.
On Newport County...
I know their manager really well. He watched us coach for a while when he was out of work during our time at Rotherham United. We're good friends.
His teams work really, really hard. He did an amazing job at Bristol Rovers and then took over at Mansfield Town.
We've watched a lot of them as we always do but we have to be at our best. The World Cup is showing that you can't underestimate any team and we're going to have to match their intensity, that's for sure.
