Derby County Assistant Head Coach Richie Barker says it's 'nice to be back' at Moor Farm after the side's week-long training camp in Spain last week.
The Rams' squad had 24 hours to recover and recharge following their return to the country late on Sunday but were straight back into it on Tuesday morning on the training ground ahead of another pre-season fixture away at National League side Chesterfield on Wednesday night (7pm kick-off).
Barker caught up with RamsTV to preview the meeting with the Spireites and reflect on the week in Spain.
On being back in Derby...
It's nice to be back on the pitches and in familiar surroundings. The players are a bit brighter than they were when we dropped them off the other day! They had 24 hours off with their families and are ready to go again.
On whether they got what they needed from Spain...
Yes, we did. Unfortunately we got the odd niggle, which you get when you push people to their limits which we did to an extent but we did. We got all the sessions in that we wanted, we got the match minutes in on Saturday against Salford City and we got some good information into the group in terms of the meetings we had. The lads bonded as a group and they know a lot more about each other than they did when they got on the plane the previous week. The new players integrated themselves really well, so I'd say it was pretty successful. When we go into the games with Chesterfield and Stoke City this week the players will still be carrying fatigue because pre-season hasn't just finished now because the games have started.
On whether the group seem closer...
We've got the mix of the younger players that have been here since they were really young like Eiran Cashin, Liam Thompson and Max Bird and then we've got players like Sonny Bradley in from a team that have just been promoted to the Premier League. We've got that mix all the way through where they are now starting to know more about each other and what is expected from then on and off the pitch.
On Craig Forsyth's Testimonial against Stoke City on Saturday...
He's one of the most humble people that I've come across. I'm pretty sure he's had opportunities to move on but he's stuck with the club. Testimonials are few and far between now with players moving clubs so now he is high up in terms of appearance holders. He's a very special character and I hope the weekend goes great for him and we have plenty of people in. It doesn't matter whether he's your favourite player or he's not, he's an integral part of this football club and we should all be extremely proud of what he's done.
On what the plan is againt Chesterfield...
Some of the lads will be extending their minutes. It is all about doing that safely and building those minutes up. That is important. Even the little things like getting back out there after half-time is important and it's something that people forget.
On the thoughts of the team on the opening day in just over two weeks...
I wouldn't say it's never been mentioned but we're also aware that things change quickly. We have seen it before where someone gets to the Thursday beforehan and their groin flares up or something like that. What's important at the moment is we're ensuring that everybody knows where they might play or should play and in terms of the back three it's important that they all play with each other. When you get into that thick and fast period of the season, you get very little time to do the work so it's important we get it in now.
