Alan Stubbs discusses the pre-season tour with www.themillers.co.uk...
Rotherham United boss Alan Stubbs is looking forward to the club’s upcoming tour of Poland but admits his players will face a rigorous programme as they prepare for the 2016/17 Championship campaign.Stubbs, who enjoyed a playing career largely at the top level of English football, is no stranger to the demands of the pre-season routine and is confident his squad will profit from the club’s pre-season plans.
“The trip will be very beneficial, the players might not necessarily be looking forward to it because there will be a lot of work on fitness,” he told www.themillers.co.uk.
“I am sure it will be as enjoyable as it possibly can, it is a time of the year that players know will be really tough, but we will make it enjoyable as well.”
The Millers boss is likely to add names to his squad ahead of the trip on 10th July and believes the tour of Poland will provide a good opportunity to integrate the new faces for both players and staff.
“It is always important in pre-season to get the players away together. It is a chance to get some quality time to get to know each other really well and see what we are all about,” Stubbs explained.
“From my point of view and the staff, we are really looking forward to that. The players know it is about them staying focused and working as hard as they can this time of the year, and us trying to get them as fit as we possibly can so they are ready for the start of the season.
“Right now the most important thing is that we want to try get everyone through it, but we don’t want anybody to pick up any injuries along the way.”
Rotherham United have now finalised games against Parkgate, Grimsby Town, Sunderland and Scunthorpe United whilst on home soil, but Stubbs has not ruled out the possibility of taking in one more fixture.
“We may do one more game, but that is not concrete at the moment,” he explained.
“We have two games in Poland and some games over here. We may have a behind closed doors game, and once we have done that then I am quite happy about the amount of games played.
“I do like to have maybe five or six games for pre-season and if all goes to plan then we will be reaching that target."