United manager John Ward spoke to us about his plans for the end of the week, once he gets the lads back together for the pre-season build up.

He said: "I think everybody is looking forward to getting back in to work on Thursday. It's been a good break, and the lads will have enjoyed it, but we're all ready to get on with it again. If I'm being honest, the way last season ended still rankles a little bit, but we will soon have that behind us. Once we get the boots back on, and get the group back together, then things will start moving on again. They may all be fed up with what we have them doing come Friday morning, but I'm sure they'll be ready and up for it when they meet up with us for the first time later this week."

"We've deliberately scheduled it so they come back to us on a Thursday," he explained. "I think a number of clubs have started doing it this way ... in fact, I read that Manchester United come back on a Wednesday, and things like that, so it isn't unique to us. The idea is that we gradually build the lads up, and make sure that we have them ready for the first game of the season in August. That starts with a couple of days work at the end of the first week, to get everyone ticking over, and we also have some of the administrational and organisational tasks to sort out. We'll keep things steady on Friday, then send them off with a weekend break and the thought that they'll be starting in earnest next Monday."

"The whole idea of pre-season is to get the match fitness and sharpness back," he concluded, "and to ensure that we go in to the first game as fit and ready as possible. Everything we do between now and the Bristol Rovers game is geared towards that. We have a programme sorted out, and that includes our pre-season fixtures, and we'll expect to see a steady progression as we go through the next few weeks."