Moors The Merrier For Cherries Squad - Eddie focused on fitness

The AFC Bournemouth squad kicked off pre-season training this morning in the surrounds of Moors Valley Country Park.

A light fartlek session greeted the lads as they returned to action with the management team aiming to have the squad amongst the fittest in League Two this season.

And coach Eddie Howe is confident that a pre-season full of variety is the key to dominating matches in the closintg stages.

Speaking after this morning's session Howe said, "It was a gentle introduction to pre-season and we'll make the sessions tougher as pre-season progresses. We've got to be careful not to pick up injuries with such a small squad.

"They're back in again tomorrow for a similar session and start the ball work on Monday along with some harder fitness sessions.

"We're trying to mix things up and keep the training fresh particularly with the fitness work. It keeps the lads interested and motivated and the more we can vary training the more the players will appreciate the challenges they're faced with.

"Fitness is vital in football now along with speed, strength and everything that goes with it. It has such a massive part to play in the modern game and we need our players at their full capacity raring to go. A lot of late goals are scored in football and fitness is a factor to that. We need to make sure we're one of the fitter sides.

"It's [Moors Valley] a great park with some wonderful scenery and a good location with the forest tracks to get some running sessions under their belts. It's kind of them to let us use it and I'm sure we'll benefit a lot from the couple of days we spend here."