Updates from the final two days of the Spain trip...
We’re now back in Nottingham ahead of the AEK Athens and Forest matches that will round off the pre-season campaign. The close to the training camp in Spain was quiet, with the players sleeping off the fatigue of the Thursday night match.
The only time we see some movement is around breakfast, lunch, a final training session and dinner. The final workout is a high-paced one, as the lads work through a number of passing and crossing drills.
The players find it testing and seem relieved when Keith Curle tells them that training is finished, just as they expect to take part in another intense drill. Several squad members who had been sidelined for sections of the trip through injury then round off the session with a final running routine.
A few stick around afterwards, including goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski, who decides to take on Keith in a game of ‘Two Touch’. This sees each of them stand in a coned off square, with the aim to hit the opponent’s area and to keep the ball in the air.
As a regular at the game, the gaffer frustrates his number one and wins easily. Goalkeeper coach Kevin Pilkington presents a stronger challenge but is defeated as well, losing a little bit of cash in the process.
Later that evening, chairman Ray Trew treats the backroom staff to a meal in a nearby restaurant as a way to round off the trip. Look out for interviews from the evening on Magpie Player soon.
Early into Saturday afternoon the squad makes the journey back to Nottingham. The trip is subdued but focus has already turned to the AEK Athens match.
What is for sure is that greater bonds have been formed in the dressing room over the week, both on and off the pitch. With so many new players, the training camp provided a suitable environment for the players to grow closer together, as well as help the backroom staff to get their messages across.
A number of videos from the trip will continue to filter onto the website over the next few days. Sign up to Magpie Player to relive the trip.