"We've got a lot of hard work to do," says Lakeland as Shaymen prepare to begin pre-season training

Town's preparations will start on Monday, June 30 at their training ground in Leeds, and should see a few new faces among the squad, after Lakeland confirmed he was on the verge of adding five signings to the group.

The Shaymen boss says he's looking forward to getting started.

"The first couple of weeks is generally more on the conditioning side and making sure the players have that base fitness to take them into the middle and end of pre-season as we get ready for that opening weekend," he said when asked what the pre-season programme would entail.

"A lot of the work we do in training, we cover all aspects of the game, whether it's physical, mental, tactical, technical.

"The majority of our sessions, regardless of the stage of the season, will all have elements of that in them.

"I think gone are the lads when you just the legs off lads, lads generally now look after themselves a lot better and come back in decent shape.

"It's a case of looking to build on the work they've been set in the off season and assessing where they're all at.

"And then building up their fitness through the work we do on the training ground and the minutes they'll gain in the pre-season friendlies we've got organised."

Next Saturday then sees Town kick off their run of warm-up games, away to Bradford Park Avenue.

"With us being new in and there being a bit of a change in terms of playing personnel, we have got a lot of work to do on the training ground," Lakeland said.

"The players need to understand what I expect to see from my teams, so we've got a lot of hard work to do in training, which I'm thoroughly looking forward to.

"You then obviously want to start seeing some of the things you work on at the training ground come to fruition in the games.

"Probably not so much in the first couple of games because it's more about the conditioning side in the first couple of weeks of pre-season, and the games are just there to support that and start building up the game-time minutes.

"But certainly by weeks three and four, in games, I'd like to see us looking a bit more how we're maybe thinking about being in the season.

"Not necessarily in terms of a set shape or formation, but in terms of principles of how we try to play, in possession, and how we try to look when we're out of possession.

"And the work we do day-to-day in training will hopefully start to come through on the pitch."

One thing Lakeland is keen to introduce this season is a multiball system at the Shay, so that spare balls are waiting at the side of the pitch and less time is wasted looking for them on the terraces when they go out of play.

"It is something I'd very much like to get introduced if we can," he said.

"If you're trying to build momentum and tempo an dintensity to your play and then you're waiting for a few minutes for the ball to come back into play, it can suck that energy and that life out of the game.

"Especially in the moments when you're chasing the game, the opposition can slow the game down and manage the clock, and on the flip side, if you're on top in a game and you're trying to put your foot on the opposition's throat and then the ball goes out of play and it takes a few minutes to come back, you can lose that bit of pressure you've put them under.

"It's definitely something I'd like us to introduce if we're permitted to do so."