Midfielder Dave Syers was back in with the rest of the squad for pre-season testing on Tuesday morning and believes that’s it’s an important part of preparing for the next campaign.
The players took part in a yo-yo test which was aimed at gaging each individual’s fitness levels ahead of the start of full pre-season training next Thursday.And whilst Syers admits it’s never a part of the year that footballers look forward to, he’s raring to go after a few weeks off.
“It was tough doing the yo-yo test and it’s never much fun when you first come back in getting them done,” he told the Iron Player.
“But obviously it’s very important for the staff to be able to gauge as a squad where everyone is and in order to make sure we hit the ground running when we come back next week.
“You’re always glad when it’s finished and we’ve got another week or so off now until we have to come back in and it all starts for real.
“You’re not going to hear me complaining about it because we’ve had quite a lot of down time to recover after last season so it is just part of making sure you are prepared for next season.”
The squad now have a further nine days off before full pre-season gets underway and Syers is looking forward to getting back into playing again.
More fitness work will lie ahead for the Iron as well as a series of pre-season games before the beginning of Scunthorpe’s return to League One football.
“I’m looking forward to getting back,” he continued.
“It was nice to get back in and see most of the lads today and then then I’ll settle into the routine again next week with everyone else.
“I think pre-season is a lot more ball related now than it was when I first started without sacrificing any of the fitness so it’s not as bad as it has been in recent years but obviously I’ve never done one here so we’ll have to wait and see.
“The first 10 or 15 minutes of the first pre-season game is always one where you feel like you can’t run anymore but you have to get through that and build on that match fitness and I’m looking forward to it.”
Whilst Syers knows that the challenge of League One football will be testing for the squad during the new season, he wants to utilise the confidence that was taken out of the last campaign.
The 26-year-old scored 10 goals in claret and blue last season and again wants to hit the double figure milestone.
He added: “We’ve made two very good signings so far in Jennison (Myrie-Williams) and Neal (Bishop) so we’re really pleased with the club’s work there.
“Russ and the chairman have done really well with that so we’ll see what else happens.
“I think it’s just a case of hopefully starting the season with the confidence that we took out of last season and just seeing where we are as we go.
“The bottom line at the end of the day is that we want to stay up, you can’t look past that because too many teams in the past few years have gone up from League Two and have ended up dropping back down.
“First and foremost for the club it’s important that we consolidate at this level and we’ve every confidence that we can be sitting there in a nice position and if that’s the case then great and we’ll just go from there.
“On a personal note, I always sit down and say I want double figures.
“I had a long run of games last year and I’m very happy with that, I think it’s the longest run in my career and I want that to continue and hopefully I’ll play a lot of games this year.”
See much more from Dave Syers on The Iron Player.