United's Shirecliffe training base was a hive of activity on Thursday as all the players returned to start a gruelling pre-season under the watchful eye of Kevin Blackwell and his staff.

Blackwell is keen to emphasise the importance of putting in the graft over the coming weeks, but he praised how the players looked upon their return this morning and is optimistic for the new season, given his recruitment so far:

"It is nice to get back into work. To be fair, the lads have worked hard throughout the summer and look in decent nick.

"It is a different game now to when I was playing when we used to get eight or nine weeks off, but that simply isn't the case anymore.

"The players were given fitness manuals to go away with over the summer in a bid to keep their physical levels up. Pre-season is shorter now and more intense so you have to be fitter to start with.

"Everybody came in on either Monday or Tuesday to have their general condition checked, seeing the physio and doctor so we could identify any weaknesses before the real physical stuff starts.

"All the lads are good professionals and I am pleased to have 15 that are committed to the club for at least two years, which is good. We will be starting with a squad that has more stability than in recent years."

Along with all three summer signings - Daniel Bogdanovic, Leon Britton and Johnny Ertl - there were four trialists who took part in the first official session, including former Blade Rob Kozluk and ex-Peterborough and Swansea defender Tom Williams, with Blackwell keen to take a look at everything in a bid to reinforce his squad:

"The two lads from France and Belgium are here and the lad from Spain will arrive on Monday. They all are good technically and have potential, but we want to see if they can handle the physical aspect of the game in this country.

"Kozzy and Tom Williams have both come here to join in with pre-season, neither of them have got clubs so we can have a good look."