Derby County striker James Collins says it's great to be back amongst it at Moor Farm Training Ground - but admits pre-season has been 'really tough' to date.
The Rams are just over a week into their pre-season programme and face local non-league side Matlock Town in the first warm-up fixture ahead of the 2023/24 Sky Bet League One season on Saturday (3pm kick-off) before jetting off to Spain for a week-long training camp on Sunday.
Speaking to RamsTV, Collins spoke about pre-season to date, the new additions and Saturday's opening friendly.
On pre-season so far...
It's tough, really tough. We're doing double sessions and high intensity sessions and lots of running so the last week has been really tough. All pre-seasons are tough and every manager has their different methods. I don't think you'll ever have an easy one but some are harder than others - and this one is right up there.
On being back in the mix...
It's always nice to come back in, we had seven weeks off this year so it was a long old break and towards the back end of that you're always looking forward to getting back in and seeing the lads and getting the new season underway.
On the new signings so far...
They've settled in really well. They've all had great careers and they've come here to help us achieve what we want to achieve. So far they've been really good.
I knew Curtis Nelson beforehand. I was at Cardiff City with him and we were at a wedding together in the summer so we had a chat about the move then. I'm delighted he's on board because he'll be top quality for us.
On players recruiting players during summer...
I think it goes on all the time. There's always lads asking what clubs are like, what the managers are like and what the boys are like.
On the first pre-season game at Matlock Town on Saturday...
It will be nice. I think the plan is to play 45 minutes each. It will be nice to get the boots on, get back on the pitch and see where we're at fitness wise. There will be some tired bodies because this week has been really tough but we'll keep the quality as high as we can and we look forward to going away to Spain on Sunday.
