With the squad arriving in Spain on Sunday, defender David Buchanan will be supplying us with a daily diary of events from a player point of view. Here's what the lads got up to during day one at Oliva Nova...
The week long training camp started with a 4.15am pick up from the hotel followed by a very quiet coach journey to Birmingham airport as the lads felt the early start! When we arrived, there wasn't much time to relax so we headed straight to the check-in as the final call was being announced.
Once we landed in Alicante it was a case of rounding up the luggage and equipment which went really smoothly bearing in mind the amount of kit and equipment we have brought with us. A further 100km coach journey took us to the Oliva Nova resort, our home for the next 6 days.
Everyone including the staff and players sat down together for lunch and then we had the rest of the day to ourselves before the hard work begins on Monday. Some lads chose to sleep whereas others played golf or went to relax on the nearby beach, which is literally outside our hotel.
There's often a misconception among supporters, and even friends and family, that the week away resembles a 'holiday'. I must tell you, it's as far removed from a holiday as you'll get!
Train, eat, sleep, repeat is how the following week looks but there's already a fantastic atmosphere in the camp and the new lads have settled in really well. The dynamics of the squad are great - there are no egos and just a bunch of lads who are extremely competitive and want to work hard on behalf of this football club.
There's a real buzz around the group, an excitement, almost, and there's plenty of smiles on faces at the moment. Throughout the week all of the new players have to do their initiation which requires them to stand up in front of all the staff and players and sing. Hopefully there'll be some footage of that for you to enjoy during the course of the week!