Brady pleased with his squad's fitness levels after first week of pre-season

Cobblers boss Jon Brady has been pleased with the fitness levels of his players during the first week of pre-season.

Town's squad, containing eight new faces, returned from almost two months off to be put through their paces at Moulton College this past week.

They were joined by captain Joseph Mills, who is back on the grass following the injury he sustained at the end of last season.

"The first week has been really good," said Brady. "We did some testing at the end of the week before and we have been in training for a full week this week.

"The boys have come back fit and strong, and Millsy is recovering well from his end of season injury. He has seen the specialist and he has started running and we will build him up over the next two to three weeks to get him back in to full training and then involved in the matches.

"The new recruits all look strong, they have reported in good shape.

"Players nowadays have their off season programmes but they do return super fit and ready to go. It is about us topping them up, making sure they are football fit and that they know our principles and what is expected of them."

Cobblers now know their schedule for the new League Two season, which starts at home to Port Vale on August 7.

"We know the start to the season will be tough," Brady added. "We face five away games out of seven in August and that will test the squad but we also know there will be an expectation on us.

"We won't judge ourselves in the first game or the first few weeks, the challenge for us is to be constantly improving, and to ensure are moving forward and improving every day working towards being the best we can be and that’s as far ahead as we are looking at the moment."