INTERVIEW: Aim to be in the team

Charlie Wyke on the first day of pre-season training

We spoke to striker Charlie Wyke on Thursday morning ahead of the first session of pre-season.

"I think everyone gets nervous on the first day of pre-season," he said. "We all know we'll be doing the bleep test and we want to do well. We've been away but when I've been on holiday I've been doing a bit of running and going in the gym to keep my fitness up. 

"Lee [Fearn] was on the phone yesterday [Wednesday] telling us it's a double bleep test so there's a bit of competition between the lads already."

"It's good to get the first few days out of the way because that's when most of the hard physical stuff is done," he continued. "Once the testing has been done we get the footballs out and that's what we all enjoy doing.

"I'm looking forward to it because it's my first pre-season with the club and it will obviously be different to what I've been used to."

"Pre-season never gets easier but I'm looking forward to it because it's something we all need, and it's what we're here for," he told us. "The friendlies will come round quickly and we've got some good games in there. The Preston game will be a good one, as will the games against the local sides."

"You start getting the buzz back when you see the fixtures," he explained. "We've got some long Tuesday night trips to look forward to but hopefully they'll all be good games and we can have a good season.

"I was on holiday when the fixtures came out so I didn't really want to have a look how far some of the Tuesday night games are going to be, but it's part and parcel of the game. You have to go to every team so it doesn't really matter when it is."

"Hopefully I can do well during pre-season and the gaffer will be impressed with what I've done," he said. "The aim is to be in the team come the first day. I want to get 20 goals this season so we'll see what happens.

"With Jabo [Ibehre] signing it's obviously going to be a test to get in the team, so we'll all be working hard and trying to do what we do best. Whoever is performing will be picked come the start of the season, we all know that, so it's up to us to do the job."