AFTER two weeks of training, Burnley set sail on their quest for match fitness tonight when they travel to the Stade de Colovray to take on Swiss third-tier side FC Stade Nyonnais (6.30pm BST).

Minus the Euro 2016 trio of Tom Heaton, Sam Vokes and Stephen Ward, the Clarets returned to pre-season training a week last Monday at Gawthorpe before flying out for a training camp at Evian-les-Bains at the start of this week.

MORE TOP STORIES:

After four days of work at the Stade Camille Fournier facility — the training base used by Germany during Euro 2016 — Sean Dyche and his players will take a boat across Lake Geneva this afternoon, moving from the French side of the water to the Switzerland side, to step up preparations for the start of the Premier League season, which kicks off when Swansea visit at Turf Moor on August 13.

It might be an unconventional mode of transport to a match, but Burnley’s players will simply be glad they’re not swimming it having been put through a testing few days in Evian, with several double sessions taking place during a week that has included intense heat and torrential downpours.

Striker Andre Gray is certainly looking forward to getting a first outing under his belt tonight.

“I can’t wait because the games start to come thick and fast and pre-season starts to speed up,” he said. “The first two weeks’ are a bit of a slog and it’s a bit of a grind, but you’ve got to do it and get through it.

“When the games come the aches and pains start to disappear and then you’re back in to your normal routine.

“You don’t realise until you start playing the games that it’s a completely different kind of fitness.

“At non-league you’re just running round a pitch minute after minute after minute. You come to a game and you still feel knackered so you start to question what all that running was for.

“There’s a lot more science going into it now, so when the games come we’ll be fully prepared.”

Their opponents tonight could be feeling the strain having played their second pre-season friendly of the summer just 24 hours ago at the same ground, with Sporting Lisbon the opponents.

Vittorio Bevilacqua took charge of the 1. Liga Promotion side at the start of July and has already added to his squad with the signing of midfielder Xavier Hochstrasser, who has plenty of experience of Switzerland’s top flight, the Super League.

Stade Nyonnais began their pre-season with a 1-1 draw against Sion II, with 22-year-old Stipe Simunac — a former Juventus youngster — scoring the goal.

They will also face Sunderland later in July before beginning their latest league campaign at home to Bavois on August 2.

Stade Nyonnais had been regulars in Switzerland’s Challenge League, the second tier, until the 2011-12 season, when a restructuring saw six teams relegated from that division instead of the usual two.

As well as the stadium, the Colovray Sports Centre includes Uefa-graded training facilities spread over 100,000 square metres.

Real Madrid were regular visitors until 2001, spending eight successive years training here and playing a friendly against Stade Nyonnais in the process, with the last match ending in a 12-1 victory, while Benfica have also based themselves at the centre in the past.

The stadium has hosted several Uefa Youth League games in recent years, while the Ivory Coast played and trained at the facilities as part of their warm-up for the 2010 World Cup, and Russia faced Lithuania clashed in a friendly two years later before Euro 2012.