Derby County Head Coach Paul Warne was beaming on the first day back at Moor Farm Training Ground on Thursday morning to begin preparations for the 2023/24 Sky Bet League One season - and said that he and everyone else are pleased to have made their returns.
The majority of the Rams' players returned after their summer breaks this week with the exception being those that have been on or remain on international duty.
RamsTV caught up with the Head Coach prior to the first of the fitness sessions getting underway for a quick update.
On the first day back...
It's a good time of year because everyone's pleased to be back in the building. Getting everyone back and seeing everyone is great, it's like the first day at school. By tomorrow they will all be hating us again but generally they are all pleased to see each other.
On what the players can expect in the first couple of days...
The first couple of days are alright, really. It's all about lactating testing on the treadmill, going to your maximum and seeing where the lads are at. We've got really educated people like Ross Burbeary, who is our Head of Football Development and Performance. He's another level.
The players will do a drill with me which they won't really enjoy, but they aren't supposed to, and in the meantime lads are doing mile runs too. They'll have two days off at the weekend after the first couple of days and then next week we'll have a real good go at it.
We just have to be better at everything. Better at set-pieces, a little bit fitter, a little bit more aggressive and organised. We have to be better coaches and we'll just try and get everything out of the group.
On the new faces in the squad...
It is great to have them here and it takes a long time to sign players, trust me. Today I'm meeting two other players, so things are constantly on the go.
We're pretty pleased along the back line but we're still one signing short there. We're still one wing-back short, we're still two or maybe three attacking players short.
As it stands today if we had to play a league game tomorrow then great, I'd deal with the eleven that I knew would start the first game - but we're always trying to improve every position and that's what we're trying to do on a 25-hour basis, it feels like!
On the one year anniversary of the club's takeover at the weekend...
I came to this club because of David Clowes, really, because he sold me how he wanted the club to be, how he wanted the club to be run and how he sees the future of the club. I try and keep him updated as much as I can regarding signings and things like that because fundamentally he is a fan. He's been really good, pretty fair. He's been a joy to work for and I am sure that will continue to be the case.