Allardyce calls Rovers back to training early

Fitness seems to be on the agenda for the new season at Blackburn Rovers.

The boys (who are not at the World Cup by then) are back in training as of next week, which is before every other Premier League club and Burnley.

The aim is to give the players every chance possible to hit the ground running and to improve on the 10th place finish achieved last time out.

Allardyce, speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph said - "We are back before anyone else. We are back on the 28th of June, so we are doing all we can to be fitter than we were last year.

"If there were two things we could improve on it would be our fitness and our goal scoring. If we can improve on those we will be very, very good next year.

'One of the good things for us is we were safe with eight games to go last season. Me and the backroom staff have got all guns blazing in terms of fitness tests and fitness programmes."

Rovers have got a blinder of a pre-season to get cracking with, which includes taking part in the inaugural Sydney Festival of Football.

Allardyce has explained the thinking behind the trip and also defended the amount of rest the players got last year after a tough campaign.

The Large One continued - "We gave the lads a lot of time off towards the end of last season to get the batteries recharged and finish the season as strong as they did. People asked why they got so much time off, it was because there was no point in training any more.

"Training them any more would have made them less capable of playing on a Saturday than more. Trusting them was the name of the game. Trusting them to take the rest the right way and looking after themselves. That gave us the time of planning pre season.

"A couple of trips to America came up that were very, very interesting for us and then this Australia trip came up.

"It was very exciting for the teams we are playing and the money we were getting. It is a bit far but based on the teams we are playing and the money we are getting, and the timing, it was right for us."

Darn it, he nearly got through the whole thing without mentioning money!!!

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.