Northampton Town boss Stuart Gray is looking forward to the start of pre-season training next week, and is ready for an intense six week build up to the new season.

"The players report back on Monday and we have a very intense six weeks ahead of us before we play Cheltenham on August 9th," he said.

"The players were all given summer fitness schedules to follow and so when they come back we will be able to hit the ground running. The schedules were carefully put together to give them the right amount of rest and work over the last few weeks and so they should come back in good shape and be ready to kick on.

"We tested the players before they went away and we will test them again at the start of pre-season. We will measure their results now against their results then but I have no doubt that they will all be in good shape.

"The attitude of this group of players is very good. They are driven by a determination to do well, and their own personal and professional standards mean that I know they will be ready to work hard during pre-season.

"Players like Bayo, Giles Coke and Gabor Gyepes will really benefit from this pre-season. They all did really well for us last season, and that was especially creditable given that they didn't have a pre-season under their belts. This time they will and they will be better off for it.

"We have a very young and fit squad and I think you need that. You need players who can cope with the Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday schedule that we have and I think the squad we have here can do that and can play at the tempo that I want.

"Work to strengthen the squad will continue as pre-season progresses. It is a case of having to be patient, but if we have to be to get the right players, then we will be. Last year we got stronger as the season went on, and the good thing is that this time around we haven't had to make wholesale changes. The spine of the squad from last season is still here and it is just a case of adding the right players here and there."

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