Derby County Head Coach Paul Warne believes his squad are 'not far away' from where they want to be after a long and tough week in Spain.
The Rams concluded their week-long pre-season training camp in Alicante with a 1-1 draw against Sky Bet League Two side Salford City at the Pinatar Arena in Murcia, with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing equalising shortly after the Rams fell behind following the half-time break, and Warne was pleased with the efforts of his squad.
Speaking to RamsTV after the game, the Head Coach spoke about the draw with the Ammies and reflected on a tough but enjoyable week on the training ground in Spain.
On the game...
I'd like to thank all the fans that came to start off. It was tough in the heat for both teams and we've had to do a bit of a 'mix and match' as we've got six of our main players out at the moment.
I thought the young lads such as Max Bardell and Darren Robinson came in and gave a good account of themselves and it was just about trying to get through the game without any injuries.
There was certain parts of our play that was poor and certain parts that I really liked but it was just a training session today really.
I thought when we did play quickly we were really good but we just didn't have enough in behind for my liking.
On the shape of the team...
The effort to press is one of the hardest things. I think you could see in the first half with our back three that if you press against certain teams and keep them in and make them kick it long, then when you've got someone like Sonny Bradley to come and head the ball - it's happy days.
I asked Liam Thompson to play at left-wing-back for 60 minutes, so fair play to him. If that was a league game I'd be devastated but it isn't, it's just a game which is normally behind closed doors as a training session.
I thought Max Bardell did really well again and he's trained brilliantly this week and during pre-season. Joe Ward is back training and he will be playing in midweek at Chesterfield which is great news. Callum Elder will be a little bit longer but Korey Smith will be back next week and Conor Washington will hopefully be on the pitch too. We've got a few others too that we need to monitor.
We're getting closer but we're still looking to bring one or two players in at the top end of the pitch. We're not far away; we're a lot closer as a group.
On the week in Spain as a whole...
I'm really pleased. It's not easy and it's not the physical battle that is tough, it's the mental battle. A lot of our drills have been football based but we've tried to get more metres in the players early on and tried to engage with them.
I feel the best thing about the trip is that we get back on the plane and everyone knows each other a lot more and care for each other a lot more. On the training pitch, nobody ever dropped their standards. Conor Hourihane and Max Bird have been unbelievable.
I've really enjoyed spending time with the players and watching them get fitter and stronger. I'm grateful that we've had the opportunity to come out.
On a double game-week next week...
We'll be a bit more technical in training because they've got a decent enough base fitness now.
We will go into the games probably a little bit fresher than the last two. Hopefully we'll have some more bodies back and have some more bodies in and then we are cooking!
I've had pre-seasons where I've lost every game and got promoted and had pre-seasons where I've won every game and got relegated. It's just about fitness.
