THE fixtures are out next week, and then it won't be long before the lads are back for pre-season training in preparation for the 2007-08 campaign.

It's perhaps the one part of the job that few of them relish. I know the first week back was always a struggle for players of my generation. Our feet would be full of blisters because we hadn't done anything at all throughout the summer.

These days players stay on top of their fitness by playing golf, tennis, going to the gym, so they are still sharp when they return to the club.

And they'll be keen to get back to competitive football after a well-earned break. But it's one that goes fairly quickly now. I don't think modern day footballers get as much time off as we did.

When I was coming towards the end of my career I took the opportunity to go to America. I'd always wanted to see the States, so I took my wife and kids over and I played for Denver Dynamos for about six weeks in 1974 in the North American Soccer League.

Quite a few players did that in those days, and it was a great way to see the country. I jetted out to every game, going to all the major cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Vancouver.

I was at Oldham at the time and getting a bit long in the tooth.

When I went back to Boundary Park the following season I took the job as player-coach, so it was a great experience to have before the end of my playing career.

At the end of a season, many players will sign off with a training programme and target weight to return with.

Steve Cotterill gives all the lads a training routine to do while they're away, and it's up to the players to keep doing it so they aren't out of shape when they return for pre-season training.

There'll also be new team-mates to get to know. So far only one has been confirmed, with the signing of goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly, but I'm sure the wheels are in motion to add to that.

Next in line, for me, would be a striker and a right back. I've emphasised about the right back position before because playing centre halves there isn't the best balance.

Of what we've got, the defender who's played the best there is Michael Duff. Like Wayne Thomas, he can fill in there.