An update on the Academy's pre-season tour of Budapest...
Rotherham United’s Academy have recorded a win and a draw so far on their pre-season tour of Budapest.Garreth Barker’s young Millers’ side departed for Hungary last Wednesday and have undergone an intense training programme in blistering temperatures following their arrival.
“It’s been tough for the players because of the heat. We’ve been training double and triple sessions in temperatures up to 36 degrees,” Barker admitted.
“We’ve been using the gym and the lads have done some swimming all of which has been overseen by the Sports Scientist Ryan McMahon, while Ady Littlejohn has taken some core sessions.
“The boys have had a lot on so far with training and classroom sessions and they have been very busy.”
The tour has provided the youngsters with a chance to test themselves against foreign opposition and have been successful in doing so, picking up a draw and a comfortable win so far in Hungary.
“We’ve had two games, the first of which was against a club called MTK. They compete in the Hungarian equivalent of the Premier League and we draw that one 0-0.
“We missed a penalty which might have seen us go on and win the game but there were plenty of positives to come from the game.
“We had another game last night which was against Kerulet and we won that game 3-0. Darnelle Bailey-King, Adam Johnson and Brandon Potts got the goals and it was a good game. Some storms over the last couple of days have helped us because it brought the temperature right down and it meant we were able to play the way we wanted to play.”
The team are not due to return to South Yorkshire until Tuesday with another fixture on the horizon before they board the plane home, but Barker is thrilled with how the tour has gone so far.
“The facilities here are first class. The rooms are very comfortable and we’ve got a lot of dedicated changing rooms. There’s a media suite where they’ve been having classes in languages, racism, phobias and sports science.
“On top of that there’s a swimming pool which we’ve been using for sessions and cool downs. There’s an ice bath, a state-of-the-art gym complete with physio room which is fully kitted out with everything that Ryan and Ady need, so they’ve done a lot of work in there."
For regular updates on the trip follow @AcademyRUFC on Twitter.