Plymouth Argyle players putting in extra hours to prepare for pre-season

Plymouth Argyle will officially start pre-season training under new head coach Wayne Rooney on Wednesday but the work has already begun for the squad.

All of the under-contract players were given fitness programmes before they began their summer breaks to make sure they are in good condition for when they report back to Home Park. Some of them have gone even further, though, after being put through their paces by A-Tek Coaching's Aaron Cusack over the past couple of weeks.

Cusack, a UEFA A Licence holder, has worked with midfielder Adam Randell on specialist 1:1 and position specific training in sessions on the artificial pitches at the Manadon Sports and Community Hub as well as at Saltmill Park in Saltash.

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Argyle academy product Randell, 23, had a good first season playing at Championship level, making 30 starts, 15 substitute appearances and scoring three goals, but he has been putting in extra work this summer as he looks to make sure he is ready to make further improvements in the forthcoming campaign.

Randell has regularly been joined for the sessions with Cusack by his Argyle team-mates Ryan Hardie, Will Jenkins Davies, Callum Wright and Michael Cooper, while club captain Joe Edwards took part at Saltmill Park one day last week.

It is a far cry from days gone by when professional footballers would do little or no physical activity over their summer breaks and the start of pre-season would purely be about rebuilding their fitness levels.

Now, given the good all year round physical condition of players, the focus on ball work, patterns of play and tactics can begin almost immediately in pre-season.

Cusack told Plymouth Live: "During the off season the players have to complete a fitness programme delivered from the club before they return to pre season. To accompany this programme some of the players also like to cover some of the ball elements to help sharpen themselves up, which is what I can offer.

"It originally started with Adam Randell, Ryan Hardie and Will JD as we did some work last year so they were keen to do some more work this off season too. Having seen some of the work we have done I think a few of the others were keen to get involved too so we have had Coops, Callum and Joe come along more recently.

"We work on ball contacts, passing sequences, scan work and outplaying 1 v 1 all under physical load before finishing with different shooting practices. All the players have worked incredibly hard and I cannot fault their attitudes in getting themselves physically ready to return to pre season."

The Argyle squad will have a few days in Plymouth later this week before leaving for a nine-day training camp in Marbella, Spain, on Saturday. While they are away, they will play a game against top South African side Orlando Pirates on Friday, July 12.

On their return to the UK, the Pilgrims will have further pre-season games away to Cheltenham Town (July 20), Torquay United (July 27), Bristol Rovers (July 30) and MK Dons (August 3) before beginning their 2024/25 Championship campaign away to Sheffield Wednesday on August 11.