Premier clubs report back with bosses warning of hard work
The road to the new Blue Square Premier campaign starts this week as both Rushden & Diamonds and Kettering Town return for pre-season.
And Diamonds look set to have an immediate boost as they reconvene today after boss Justin Edinburgh revealed he hopes to tie up another signing before completing season-long loan deals for two Coca-Cola Championship players later in the week.
Edinburgh admitted he is looking forward to getting to work with his new-look squad in a week that also sees the fixture list released on Friday.
"This is where the hard work starts," the Diamonds boss said.
"All our players were given individual programmes to work with over the summer and we did various tests before they left.
"We will do all those again and I am sure everyone will be back fit and ready to go.
"It is a special time for everyone and there is a lot of anticipation around the football club. The players will be coming back to be a
close, tight-knit unit.
"It's also exciting for the fans with the fixture list coming out because they will want to see when the derby games are and I am looking forward to seeing what we will be up against in the first six matches.
"But we all know there is a lot of hard work to be done before that first game. The first two weeks will be very intensive and tough but I feel our players will be able to cope with all of that."
The Poppies, meanwhile, report back on Wednesday with manager Mark Cooper conceding there will be a bit of work for him to do in the transfer market over the next few weeks.
He said: "I am really looking forward to getting back into it.
"We know we need to add a couple of new faces but it all remains very
slow at the moment – and that goes for everyone.
"Apart from Oxford, Luton, Stevenage and York City no-one seems to be
making any serious moves and I will stay cautious.
"But I am sure the lads we have here will be ready. They are a fit bunch and will come back in good condition.
"We have a good couple of weeks before our first pre-season fixture and we will be working extremely hard in that period."
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Weather for Kettering
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North west
