MLB’s All-Star Game starting pitches were announced Monday, with one veteran of the Midsummer Classic and one first-timer getting the nod.

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, a six-time All-Star, will start for the American League, while rookie honouree Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks will take the bump for the National League.

Cole will become the 11th different Yankees pitcher to start the All-Star Game and the first since Roger Clemens in 2001. He finished his first half with a 9-2 record, a 2.85 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 117 innings.

At 11-3, Gallen is tied for the Major League lead in wins at the break and has a 3.04 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 118 1/3 innings. Gallen’s 1.05 WHIP leads all qualified starters in the NL.

Curt Schilling’s All-Star start in 2002 was the last by a Diamondbacks pitcher, which followed a two-year run by teammate Randy Johnson in 2000 and 2001.

The selections were made Monday by AL manager Dusty Baker and NL manager Rob Thompson ahead of Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

“It’s been a whirlwind really,” the 27-year-old Gallen said. “This is something I dreamed of as a kid, so for it to come to fruition is everything and more.”

While neither starter is expected to throw very many pitches, Cole will take ball on two days’ rest after going 7 1/3 innings in a win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.

“It's always something I wanted to do,” Cole said. “I feel like I’m physically able to do it.”

Baker was not inclined to interfere with Cole accomplishing his goal of starting in the All-Star Game.

“Hey, if a man like Gerrit Cole wants to pitch, I’ll let him pitch,” Baker.

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz remain on collision course for a final showdown following a gripping day at Wimbledon.

Defending champion Djokovic returned to complete his delayed quarter-final with Hubert Hurkacz before world number one Alcaraz registered a thrilling success over 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini.

Elsewhere, there was an early exit for world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas at the hands of Chris Eubanks, while last year’s finalist Ons Jabeur powered past two-time winner Petra Kvitova in the women’s draw.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at how day eight unfolded.

No escape from Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz passed another test to reach the last eight in SW19 for the first time.

Having been pushed to four sets by Nicolas Jarry in the third round, the Spaniard stylishly fought back from a set down to see off Matteo Berrettini 3-6 6-3 6-3 6-3.

It was a meeting of the last two Queen’s Club champions and undoubtedly a significant hurdle for Alcaraz, who is learning quickly on the surface and produced a very solid display.

He will next take on fellow 20-year-old Holger Rune in the first Wimbledon men’s singles quarter-final between players aged under 21 in the open era, with a potential mouthwatering finale against Djokovic very much on the cards.

Tweet of the dayTime waits for Novak

Despite progressing, Djokovic called for Wimbledon to overhaul its scheduling and start play earlier on Centre Court following his drawn out victory over Hubert Hurkacz

The seven-time champion fell foul of the All England Club’s insistence on beginning matches at 1.30pm when his fourth-round match had to be suspended on Sunday night due to the council-imposed 11pm curfew.

The 36-year-old, who returned to finish off Hurkacz 7-6 (6) 7-6 (6) 5-7 6-4 on Monday afternoon, was unequivocal in his response when asked if matches should start earlier.

“I think so. I agree with that,” said the 23-time grand slam winner. “Obviously curfew is probably something that is much more difficult to change, I understand, because of the community and the residential area we are in.

“I think the matches could be pushed at least to start at 12pm. I think it would make a difference.”

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Carlos Alcaraz passed another test to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time.

Having been pushed to four sets by Nicolas Jarry in the third round, the world number one had to fight back from a set down to see off former finalist Matteo Berrettini 3-6 6-3 6-3 6-3.

This was a meeting of the last two Queen’s Club champions and undoubtedly a significant hurdle for Alcaraz, who is learning quickly on the surface and produced a very solid display.

“I knew it was going to be really tough, Matteo is a great player, he made the final here on grass,” said Alcaraz.

“He’s playing great. It’s not easy after losing the first set. I knew I was going to have my chances. Something I’ve been working on is to stay focused and not lose my mind a little bit. That part I did great.

“It’s something that I really wanted. Last year I lost in the fourth round. I came here this year with that goal, first get into the quarter-finals and now I’m looking for more.

“My dream is to play a final here, to win the title one day. I hope I reach that dream this year but right now it’s great to be in the quarter-finals.”

Now he will take on fellow 20-year-old Holger Rune in the first Wimbledon men’s singles quarter-final between players aged under 21 in the open era.

Standing in the way of the young guns claiming the title, of course, is 36-year-old Novak Djokovic, who is now the only player left in the men’s draw to have previously reached a Wimbledon final.

Alcaraz remains the man most likely to deny him a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon title and 24th grand slam crown and there were plenty of the Spaniard’s crowd-pleasing tricks on show, including a winner threaded between umpire’s chair and net post that he celebrated from virtually in the stand.

He was second best in the opening set, though, as Berrettini dictated with his forehand, breaking the Alcaraz serve to lead 5-3.

The Italian, who missed Wimbledon last year with an ill-timed bout of coronavirus, has struggled this season with a recurring abdominal injury, saying after beating Alexander Zverev on Saturday that he had spent days crying in bed and arrived in London doubting he would be able to play.

He was aiming to emulate countryman Jannik Sinner, who defeated Alcaraz at the same stage 12 months ago and is through to the last eight again.

There was a concerning moment during the first point of the second set when Berrettini slipped and fell heavily, with Alcaraz coming to check on him, but the 27-year-old soon picked himself up.

Berrettini had not dropped serve once during his first three matches but the tide began to turn when a sloppy game at 1-2 saw him broken to love.

Alcaraz pushed for another break early in the third set and got it with an athletic, arching smash on his sixth chance as Berrettini was just unable to shake off the tenacious Spaniard.

Berrettini certainly had his moments but Alcaraz has so many weapons to choose from and he was wearing down the popular Italian.

At 2-2 in the fourth set, proceedings were briefly halted for the roof to be closed with darkness falling.

And Alcaraz wasted little time booking his spot in the last eight on the resumption, becoming the youngest man to do so here since Nick Kyrgios in 2014.

Andy Murray will be back at Wimbledon next year and still has plenty of “good tennis in him”, according to brother Jamie.

Murray, a two-time winner in SW19, was beaten in five sets in the second round at this year’s Championships by fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

At 36 years old, his chances of going deep into grand slams again are dwindling, but doubles star Jamie Murray still believes his sibling can operate at the top level.

“Will he be back? I hope so,” he said. “Look, I think he still has a lot of good tennis in him. I think he needs to find his mojo and get out there and play some ball.

“I still think he has the level to do a lot of good stuff on the tennis court. I think he had an amazing opportunity this tournament to really go far in a grand slam with players dropping out all over the place.

“I mean the draw really opened up for him. It felt like that. But Tsitsipas played a really good match. I am sure he is disappointed.

“I still think he can do a lot of good stuff. I always expect him to perform well and win matches because I know the level he can produce.

“He needs to find a way to do that. I don’t know what his ranking is now, it is inside 40, but for him to be getting excited he needs to be feeling like he is getting into the top 20 and feel like he is competing at these big events.”

In the midst of one of their worst offensive funks in more than a half century, the New York Yankees are hopeful Sean Casey can get the bats going.

The Yankees reportedly hired Casey to be their hitting coach on Monday, one day after firing Dillon Lawson from the position following a 7-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs to conclude the first half of the season.

This will be the first major league coaching job for Casey, who was a three-time All-Star and a lifetime .302 hitter over a 12-year career spent mostly with the Cincinnati Reds.

The 49-year-old Casey, who was a teammate of Yankees manager Aaron Boone with the Reds from 1998 to 2003, had been working as an analyst for MLB Network.

He'll help oversee a lineup that stumbled into the All-Star break with the majors' third-lowest batting average at .231 - beating out only the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics.

New York, which enters the break in fourth place in the AL East with a 49-42 record, is also 19th in the majors in average runs per game at 4.40 after ranking second in baseball last year at 4.98 per game.

The offensive woes began shortly before Aaron Judge tore a ligament in his right big toe on June 3.

Since May 31, the Yankees are batting a major league-worst .212, while their 232 hits in that stretch are the franchise's fewest over a 34-game single-season span since late in the 1968 season when the team had 229.

The middle of the batting order has been one of the biggest reasons for the scuffling offence with No. 3 hitter Anthony Rizzo batting .168 with zero home runs and seven RBIs in 31 games since hurting his neck in a collision on May 28, while cleanup hitter Giancarlo Stanton is batting .203 on the season.

"Our offence has struggled mightily, more so than I can recall," general manager Brian Cashman said Sunday. "The team that we have, in fairness to Dillon, we have had some injuries without a doubt but collectively we really have struggled, and we’re best served kind of changing of things up a little bit as we move into the second half.”

This is the first time the Yankees have made a coaching change in the midst of a season since July 1995, when Nardi Contreras replaced Billy Connors as pitching coach.

 

Daniel Dubois insists he will end Oleksandr Usyk’s reign as a heavyweight world champion when they clash in Poland on August 26.

Mandatory challenger Dubois is fighting for the WBA, IBF and WBO belts that Usyk initially seized from Joshua and then defended in two dramatic fights between the 2012 Olympic gold medallists.

A crowd of 43,000 will gather at the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw for what is seen as a routine title defence for the Ukrainian – but Dubois has other ideas.

The 25-year-old from London insists he is firing on all cylinders after coming through a tough win against Kevin Lerena in December, during which he was knocked down three times in the opening round while struggling with a knee injury.

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“The knee is fine, that’s all cleared up now,” said Dubois, as the rivals came together in Warsaw on Monday for the first press conference.

“I’m in a training camp, I’m running and everything is going well. I’m grateful for this opportunity and I’m ready to take it with both hands.

“This has been a long time coming and I’m ready to take it on. Usyk has been a great champion but everything with a beginning has an end and I’m ready.”

Usyk will be fighting in front of a partisan crowd after over one million Ukrainian refugees relocated to Poland to escape Russia’s invasion of their homeland.

Adding to the significance of the occasion is that the fight unfolds two days after Ukraine’s Independence Day, while Usyk also won his first cruiserweight title against Krzysztof Glowacki in Gdansk in 2016.

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“First of all I want to thank the guys who are defending Ukraine now,” said the unbeaten 36-year-old.

“It’s only because of them doing that, that we have the opportunity to defend our titles and bring glory to our country and the flag of our country.

“I’m really happy to be back in Poland. This country has greeted me well.

“I became the WBO cruiserweight champion here and then over the next years I collected several belts. Now I’m back in Poland here to defend them.

“I want thank the people of Poland for the support they are giving to Ukraine. I’ve been travelling around the world, fighting in the backyards of my opponents, but this fight here in Poland will be the closest one to my home.”

Novak Djokovic has called for Wimbledon to overhaul its scheduling and start play earlier on Centre Court.

The seven-time champion fell foul of the All England Club’s insistence on beginning matches at 1.30pm when his fourth-round match against Hugo Hurkacz had to be suspended on Sunday night due to the council-imposed 11pm curfew.

Andy Murray’s match with Stefanos Tsitsipas last week also had to be carried over into a second day, while Djokovic’s third-round clash against Stan Wawrinka concluded with only 14 minutes to spare.

Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton said on Monday morning that there is no guarantee that an earlier start time will be considered on Centre Court for next year’s tournament.

But Djokovic, who returned to finish off Hurkacz in four sets on Monday afternoon, was unequivocal in his response when asked if matches should start earlier.

“I think so. I agree with that,” said the 23-time grand slam winner. “Obviously curfew is probably something that is much more difficult to change, I understand, because of the community and the residential area we are in.

“I think the matches could be pushed at least to start at 12pm. I think it would make a difference.”

Two years ago organisers cited Covid for the decision to stagger start times on the two main show courts, keeping Court One at 1pm and pushing Centre back to 1.30pm, while also adding breaks between the matches.

This had the consequence of making the final match of the day a prime-time occasion on the BBC and it appears very much that is now the goal, with Bolton reporting record viewing figures.

She did not seem to view the issue of the late finishes as a particular problem, saying: “Historically over many, many decades we’ve always started play on our show courts around early afternoon.

“And that’s very much about ensuring that people have the opportunity to get on court so, as much as is possible the case, we have full courts for when the players walk on, and that’s still absolutely our intention.

“And the other thing we think carefully about is, when people buy a ticket to come to Wimbledon, they want to experience a day at the Championships and that involves going and seeing some play on outside courts, perhaps going to get something to eat, getting some strawberries and cream.

“We understand that our guests want that whole day. Of course every year we look at everything and we get feedback from all of our guest groups, from the player groups and all of our stakeholders.

“We will have a look at that beyond this year’s Championships but that’s the real background to why we have the start time when we do.

“Matches are happening at a time when they’re accessible to people. We’re seeing (TV) viewing figures that are beyond our expectations and beyond previous years so I think they probably speak for themselves.”

Bolton denied the 1.30pm start time was directly influenced by the BBC, saying: “The broadcasters are one of the stakeholders we consult as we put together all the plans for the Championships but they’re not having a direct input into start time on a court.”

The curfew is imposed by the local council to prevent late-night disruption from people leaving the grounds in what is a quiet, residential area, and Bolton said the club would not look to try to extend it.

Bolton also said there will also be no instruction to umpires to inform crowds not to expect a handshake if a Ukrainian player faces a Russian or Belarusian, despite the boos aimed at Victoria Azarenka after her match with Elina Svitolina.

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from July 10.

Football

The Lionesses were feeling the love in Australia.

The Seagulls become penguins!

Bukayo Saka was on his bike.

The Premier League turned the clock back.

Cricket

Chris Woakes reflected on a memorable week for England with one eye on the next Test.

As did Harry Brook.

Alice Capsey and Sophie Ecclestone enjoyed the British Grand Prix.

Formula One

Lando Norris loved his weekend.

Lewis Hamilton got a bit emotional.

David Coulthard and Eddie Irvine made memories, 24 years ago.

Williams celebrated a milestone.

Valtteri Bottas was back out on his bike.

Wimbledon

Neal Skupski marched on for Britain.

F1 driver Pierre Gasly scrubbed up well.

Novak Djokovic celebrated reaching the quarter-finals.

As did Madison Keys.

Wildcards Naiktha Bains and Maia Lumsden hailed becoming the first all-British pair to reach the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon women’s doubles in 40 years as “surreal”.

The rookie duo added Slovakians Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova to their impressive list of scalps thanks to a stirring 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-3 win.

Jo Durie and Anne Hobbs were the previous British team to reach the last eight of the tournament in south-west London, doing so in 1983 before being beaten by top seeds Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver in the semi-finals.

“I guess it puts it in perspective, doesn’t it? That’s something we didn’t know,” said Leeds-born Bains. “It feels surreal to be honest.

“We wanted to back up last year’s result of a first-round win. We wanted to go one better. But we’re just taking it one match at a time and can’t complain.”

Bains and Lumsden, both 25, led by a set and a break on Court 18 but were forced to dig deep after being taken to a decider having narrowly failed to overturn a four-point deficit in the second-set tie-break.

Victory over Hruncakova and Mihalikova in two hours and 36 minutes sets up a last-eight clash with the winners of Tuesday’s meeting between third seeds Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens and Czech duo Miriam Kolodziejova and Marketa Vondrousova.

The British pair’s fine run at the All England Club is even more impressive given Lumsden feared her professional playing career may be ended by long Covid.

“During it, I didn’t think I was going to get back playing sport,” the Scot said of coronavirus, which she contracted in October 2020.

“That was like a year where I couldn’t really do any exercise.

“I never really thought I would get back to playing professionally, so it’s obviously unbelievable that I have got back to it now and I’m very grateful that I can.”

Fellow Briton Neal Skupski also enjoyed progression in the doubles, alongside Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof.

The top seeds reached the third round of the men’s tournament thanks to a 7-6 (3) 6-2 success over Australians Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler.

Teenager Mirra Andreeva will continue to work on her attitude after being given a point penalty for throwing her racket during a fourth-round loss to Madison Keys at Wimbledon.

The 16-year-old Russian, who has been a crowd favourite on her debut at the All England Club, looked set to become the youngest player since Anna Kournikova in 1997 to make the quarter-finals here when she led by a set and 4-1.

But Keys fought back and Andreeva was given her first warning by umpire Louise Azemar Engzell after flinging her racket across the grass when she lost the second-set tie-break.

She then appeared to slam her racket to the ground when Keys forced deuce at 2-5 in the deciding set, earning a second warning and an automatic point penalty, which gave her opponent a match point.

Andreeva argued her case with Azemar Engzell, saying: “Do you understand what you are doing? I didn’t throw the racket. I slid. It’s the wrong decision. I slid and then I fell.”

But the decision stood and Keys won the next point to clinch a 3-6 7-6 (4) 6-2 victory, with Andreeva heading to the net to briefly shake hands with her opponent but walking straight past the umpire.

The Russian said afterwards: “She’s the umpire. She’s the one who makes the decision. But, honestly, I didn’t have any intention to throw the racket. I slid. I thought that I will fall forward. Maybe it did look like I threw the racket.”

She was unrepentant about not shaking Azemar Engzell’s hand, adding: “For me, she didn’t do a right decision. That’s why I didn’t want to shake hands with her.”

Andreeva had feared being defaulted after whacking a ball angrily into the crowd at the French Open and teenage petulance is something she will clearly need to grow out of, but there is no doubt she is a special talent.

She is working through the issue by talking to herself in bed every night, and has taken encouragement from the way the likes of Roger Federer overcame teenage tantrums.

“I knew that Federer was struggling with emotions when he was teenager,” she said. “Actually when I was younger, I saw that, ‘Well, he was struggling also. I’m not the only one who also struggles’.

“I thought that I just need to wait a little bit and it will go away. But it doesn’t work like this. You just have to work on yourself. The faster you’ll do it, then the results will come also faster, I think. I started to work on myself just with myself. I think it works pretty good now.”

Andreeva had not played on grass until the qualifying tournament two weeks ago but she has learned quickly on the surface and is already an impressively complete player.

Keys, who was looking to make the quarter-finals here for the first time in eight years, helped her young opponent with a slew of errors but she changed her tactics midway through the second set to follow her big groundstrokes to the net and even broke serve with a left-handed forehand winner.

By the time the second-set tie-break came around, it was Keys who had the momentum, and the American kept her young opponent at arm’s length during the decider to set up a last-eight clash with second seed Aryna Sabalenka.

Keys, who won the warm-up tournament in Eastbourne, admitted she felt the pressure of the occasion, saying: “It’s tough being on the other side of the net of a 16-year-old who is really playing with nothing to lose and you’re the one that’s supposed to beat her.

“I think she’s a really great player on top of all of that. I think she moves incredibly well. I was very impressed with her serve. Overall I think she has a very solid game. It’s obviously going to improve with time.”

Now 28, Keys was once a teenage prodigy, and, asked what advice she would give Andreeva, she said: “I would say ignore everyone, and everything that they say, unless you actually care about their opinion.”

Andreeva is limited in the amount of senior tournaments she can play because of her age but she will be ranked close to the top 60 next week, which is more than high enough for entry to the US Open.

She relished her Wimbledon debut, saying: “For me, it was an amazing experience. Amazing matches I’ve played here. First time on grass. I’m happy with my result, but also at the same time I’m sad and disappointed a little bit. Next year I hope, and I will do my best, to do better.”

Joe Shaughnessy revealed his delight at being appointed the new captain of Dundee.

The 31-year-old Irish defender was recruited to the cinch Premiership new boys this summer from St Mirren where he was also captain, and he also wore the armband at St Johnstone.

Shaughnessy told Dundee’s official website: “It’s brilliant, it’s an honour to be captain of a club like this.

“It is a good group of players that I’ve got to know in the last few weeks and I am really looking forward to it.

“The manager said he was looking for me to come in and lead the team and be that player.

“I try and lead by example and give everything for the team, for the club, for the dressing room and do whatever it takes to achieve success.

“It is a role I’ve done before at St Mirren and St Johnstone and I’ve learnt as I’ve gone along and I will use what I’ve learnt to help me in this role here.”

England quick Mark Wood is eager to hit Australia with more “thunderbolts” in Manchester next week and aims to prove “lightning strikes twice” after his Headingley heroics.

Wood marked his return to Ashes cricket with a stirring player-of-the-match showing in Leeds, taking match figures of seven for 100 and hitting 40 vital runs from just 16 deliveries.

His efforts helped change the tone of the series, getting England on the board after back-to-back defeats and leaving the path open for the hosts to reclaim the urn against all odds.

Wood’s raw pace provided an X-factor that had been absent at Edgbaston and Lord’s, with his first ball of the match doubling up as England’s fastest of the summer.

He continued cranking it up in his first red-ball outing for seven months, at one stage reaching 96.5mph during a ferocious opening spell, and Australia’s batting looked entirely less assured due to his mere presence on the park.

Wood revealed his England captain and Durham team-mate Ben Stokes had given him one simple instruction when he let him loose.

“Ben just asked me, ‘Are you ready? Are you ready to bowl some thunderbolts?’ I said yes and that was it,” he said.

“He was ready to unleash me. I know him well and he knows me well. Having that relationship with someone makes it easier.”

Asked if he was ready to dish out more of the same at Emirates Old Trafford next Wednesday, Wood replied with a grin: “Absolutely. Lightning strikes twice, eh?”

Wood is arguably the most consistently fast bowler ever to play for England, a crown he likely lacks only due to the absence of accurate historical data.

But the sheer physical exertion the 33-year-old puts himself through means he has had to endure long spells out of the side.

Since debuting in 2015 he has played just 29 of England’s 109 Tests, missing many of those through injury, yet Wood has set his sights on finishing strongly this summer.

There are just three days between the fourth and fifth games of the series, but, with a week to get himself ready, he fully intends to be on parade for both.

“I did four in Australia last time and three of them were in a row. It’s a big ask, but one I’ve done before and I will lean on that experience to try to do it again,” he said.

“I will speak to the physio, but I imagine I will bowl once or twice, do a couple of gym sessions, maybe some running, but it won’t be too drastic. I have to let the body recover.

“This was my first game in a very, very long time, especially in Test cricket. I will let the body recover, get myself in a good space, let the wounds recover and get myself up for the next one.”

Wood wears his heart on his sleeve on and off the field and could not hide his satisfaction at taking up a starring role midway through a contest that has captured the imagination of the public.

“It fills me with great pride to say I can do well against Australia. It’s challenging because they are a top, top side,” he said.

“It’s one of the best feelings I’ve had. Look at facing Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. One, it’s not easy. Two, it’s really intimidating.

“They’re bowling fast, they get good bounce and more often than not they come out on top. Luckily this time it’s the one out of 100 I’ve managed to get through.

“The 2005 Ashes was the absolute pinnacle for me – I was at a great age, a teenager, and my hometown hero (Steve Harmison) was playing.

“I don’t feel like it’s to that magnitude, but it’s great to have the support, which has been amazing everywhere we’ve been. You feel it on the street walking around, people messaging you. It’s amazing as a nation that we can carry this weight of support with us.”

John Souttar believes he will benefit from the rigours of Rangers’ pre-season training as he prepares to battle for his place in Michael Beale’s side next season.

The revamped Light Blues squad are being put through their paces in Germany with a view to a flying start to next season.

Beale has signed six new players, with the promise of more to come, and the Gers defender told RangersTV that he is in a good place.

Souttar, whose  2022/23 season was hampered by injury before he was involved in Scotland’s Euro 2024 qualifying campaign wins over Norway and Georgia, said: “For me it is the first time in a couple of years I will have had a proper pre-season where I am feeling fit and feeling 100 percent.

“It gives you a base for the rest of the season, you are not catching up with the lads or feeling like you are behind, you are right on it.

“This next week or two will give me a great base to hopefully have an injury-free season, so I am looking forward to it.

“Everyone is really hungry and when there are that number of new boys that come in everyone automatically has got to fight for their shirt.

“It is always the case at Rangers, but even more so now with the amount of quality that has been brought in and I think everyone is aware of that.

“There are only 11 jerseys for the first game of the season so everyone is going to be fighting for it and that can only be a good thing going forward.

“It has got a slightly different feel to it with the new players coming in and I am looking forward to seeing them all in training.

“These few weeks are massive, especially when there are new boys coming in, they are getting a feel for the club and how everyone gets on – off the pitch is as important as on it.

“Especially in pre-season, getting to know everyone’s characters, what they are like and what pushes them, so it is good, and everyone is going to enjoy getting away and enjoy creating bonds.

“I think that is what pre-season is about, when you are at home you don’t really get that 24/7 with the lads and hopefully it is the foundation for a successful season for us.”