Oxford United report back for testing ahead of pre-season on Saturday but there are already some early birds putting in the hard miles to get ahead.
Rob Hall and Shandon Baptiste have been at the training ground all summer as they complete their recovery from injury and today it was the turn of a number of promising young players to get some miles into their legs.
Midfielders Aaron Heap and Aaron McCreadie and winger Kyran Lofthouse were joined by second year scholars Jack Stevens, Jordan Edwards and Leon Chambers-Parillon, all looking to make a good impression under the watchful eye of coach Leon Blackmore-Such and strength and conditioning coach Nathan Griffith.
There was good news too with winger Ryan Crooks also able to take part and fully fit again after injury. Ryan picked up a knee injury towards the end of last season but is now hoping to shine for the under 23 side.
Leon told us:
“It is important to recharge the batteries but they all have fantastic attitudes and have worked hard over the summer. They had individual programmes to stick to but it’s always good to work in a group and they did well today. We also have centre-half Viktor Milton coming back - he picked up a similar injury to Hally but has now been given the green light for full training, which is great news for all of us.”