Curle pleased with progress as Cobblers work up a sweat in blistering summer heat

Christopher Missilou cools himself down during training earlier in the week.

Cobblers have been working up a sweat in the blistering heat this week as their preparations for the new Sky Bet League One campaign continue.

Town’s players did some light work in socially-distant groups last week but they have been back in full contract training in the sweltering summer heat over the past few days.

“It’s been very good so far,” said manager Keith Curle. “You can tell the players have followed their off-season programmes after the play-off final.

“We’re mindful of the fact that whilst before we were preparing for a sprint, now we’re preparing for a long season and the standards need to be at the right end of the scale as soon as we start doing our work.

“Very quickly we’ve got the players back into work mode and they’re understanding how we work. The players who were here last season know it’ll be tough but as well as working, they get their rest and their recovery because that’s what pre-season is all about.

“In my day you couldn’t move for four or five days after the first couple of days but we’re trying to be more progressive and more detailed in the work we’re doing.

“It’s enjoyable and we’ve had the footballs out every day but we’re using football to get fit for football and that’s important.

“I had to run up and down sand dunes and do five or six mile runs in some of my pre-seasons – the boys these days get it easy!”

Cobblers were joined by a new face at training this week following the arrival of Jospeh Mills at the weekend.

The Forest Green wing-back is Town’s third signing of the summer, joining goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell and midfielder Christopher Missilou.

“We’ve created a working, demanding environment but it’s also a welcoming environment and I always think that that’s a sign of success because we want to keep a humility about us,” added Curle.

“People come in and we explain to them what we’re about, what our expectations are and what we demand of people. If you have that off the field, you take it onto the field.”