'Comfortably the toughest pre-season I've had' - Cobblers players put through the wringer by 'relentless' Nolan

Cobblers players can’t say they weren't warned.

Town’s squad returned to England on Saturday after a rigorous and exhausting week in Spain where manager Kevin Nolan stayed true to his word and put his players through the wringer, all in the hope that it will ensure they are in the best possible physical condition for next month’s League One opener.

The four friendlies so far have seen Cobblers concede nine goals and score just one, but results have no significance to Nolan, who has forced his players to play with fatigue to prime their bodies for the long campaign ahead. Running, running and more running was the order of the day in Spain.

"I can say it’s comfortably been the toughest pre-season I’ve experienced,” admitted new signing Dean Campbell. “Just in terms of the volume of work we’ve done, the manager has been relentless. He had us playing under fatigue in the game against Millwall and that meant we weren’t at our best but I think it can only help us in the long-term. We know the miles we’re putting in now will benefit us late on in games when other teams might be tiring."

After completing a particularly gruelling session at the end of the trip to Spain, Campbell added: “I’ll be honest, that was horrific! To be fair we got a hint of what was to come and that it would be an especially tough day. We came down to the pitch and saw a lot of poles and a lot of cones and you know you’re in for a tough one. But the attitude of the lads was excellent and every single one of us gave all we had and it’s been a really good week.”

Sam Hoskins added: “It’s nice to have had a change of scenery but it’s been very tough. We’ve really been put through our paces by the gaffer but that was what we expected. The game against Millwall was probably one of the hottest I’ve ever played in but we all got through it and it’s all about getting a lot of training load into us for the season ahead, and it’s also about building bonds and connections with the new lads and the week in Spain certainly gave us chance to do that.”