Northampton Town manager Keith Curle is pleased to be back for pre-season training.
The Cobblers squad reported back to work on Thursday, and Curle is pleased with what he has seen so far.
"It is fantastic to be back," he said. "It is good to see the players and the condition they are in, it shows they have followed their off season programmes and we are ready to move forward."
Joining the squad for training this week has been new arrivals Christopher Missilou and Jonathan Mitchell, and Curle is pleased to have both on board.
"Christopher is a very competitive midfield player who can go up another level," he said. "He is very competitive, he likes to battle and that is the character I want in my team.
"Jonathan is a good goalkeeper. He adds great competition for the goalkeeping spot. He has been unlucky at Derby - he dropped down the pecking order because of injury but we think we have picked him up at the right time, he is desperate to play and work and is up for the challenge.
"We have a structure in place and if anything is new and different we see it as a challenge. The club have handled the COVID-19 protocols really well, the players know what they need to be doing but the way the club handles things allows us to focus on what happens on the pitch.
"League 1 is a very strong league. There are some fantastic clubs in this league but they are here for a reason and we will compete against them. The size of a club, the size of their budget doesn't bother us. We have our fundamentals, our heart, togetherness and our desire and that is what will carry us forward. Budgets and squad sizes don't guarantee you results. We want to show our personality and continue our upward curve this season."