Steven Pressley says he “expected a better level” of fitness from some of his Dundee players on their return for pre-season.
The new head coach is determined to drive standards at the club and has told certain individuals that they need to up their game to be in his team.
The Dark Blues players returned for pre-season testing last Wednesday and are gearing up for their first friendly this weekend at Arbroath.
But some have fitness work to do.
‘I expected better’
“There are certain things around the conditioning of some players which could be better,” Pressley said.
“In certain individuals, I expected a better level – but part of that is education.
“What I perceive to be a high level of fitness is not what the players see it as, so there’s a level of them learning that.
“There is no doubt in my mind there are many more layers we can achieve.
“We have adjusted the plan on certain individuals and tweaked their load.
“In some, the conditioning was very good, but others, it wasn’t what we hoped.
“In terms of the application to do the work, it has been very good.
“The players have been very receptive to the work, I have been pleased with that even though I wasn’t pleased with the starting point of some.”
He added: “I’ve enjoyed the first eight or nine days.
“We are feeding in the principles of how we want to work and how we want to play.
“We are doing that alongside getting the conditioning into them.
“It’s challenging because we don’t have a lot of the squad in place, so we’ll have to re-visit it again and again.”
Back in the dugout – or not?
Dundee head to Arbroath on Saturday for their first pre-season friendly of the summer.
It will be Pressley’s first match in charge and also his first match in charge of a team in Scotland since leaving Falkirk in 2013.
“I’m looking forward to being in the dugout again,” he said.
“Although I don’t know if I will actually go into the dugout, I might watch it from the stand just to get an overview of things.
“It will be a good feeling to be involved again.
“Hopefully we will see a few of the principles we’re working towards while also getting that tempo we need to gain the fitness we want.
“Everything we’re doing now is geared around getting us ready for a fortnight’s time.”
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