September Training Camp Round-Up

Jamie Tregaskiss takes on his opponent - Image: Jake Kirkman

Writes: Evan Halliday

For the second continuous weekend, the England national team reunited at Reaseheath College, The Home of Amputee Football, for the final training camp before the team board the plane to Warsaw, Poland ahead of the Amp Futbol Cup.

England manager, Scott Rogers, laid out a clear plan for the weekend in Friday evening’s team meeting, demanding the usual, high-class standards to which the lads lived up.

“The focus of the camp was preparing for the teams we will face in Poland, we will be competing against four nations who approach games in very different ways,” the gaffer said.

“It is important that we are fully prepared based on the analysis we have done on that opposition.”

Friday evening saw Louis Mayers conduct the warm-up as well as the bulk of the session, putting the players through their paces in a high-intensity rondo before leading them to a finishing drill which created a variety of different game-like chances.

Rest and recovery were on the agenda for Friday evening after a solid first session, but the longest day of training was around the corner and news of 22-degree heat was met with mixed emotions.

The sun shined across Nantwich (something that isn’t said often) and the sessions were a grind with water breaks feeling like coming across an oasis in the desert but the standards remained high.

Harry Ash takes on the fluids - Image: Jake Kirkman

Defender, Sean Jackson continued his rehabilitation across the weekend, increasing his distance with straight-line running and moving on to the next stage of his journey as he completed tough multi-directional drills and increased his ball workload.

The third and final day saw Everton’s Pan-disability team arrive at our home for a friendly with Nathan Fisher on target for the Lions.

“The Everton fixture gave us an opportunity to fine-tune our game plans and game protocols, we know how difficult it is to play against such a mobile team but we were able to stick to our game plan and achieve some really positive outcomes,” Scott Rogers detailed.

A post-match meeting rounded up another extremely fruitful camp and heads now begin to tunnel vision towards the Amp Futbol Cup in a couple of weeks.

“It has been a very successful camp with lots of positives to take from it as we are in a great position both physically and mentally and exactly where we need to be at this point of our planning.

“We will continue on our exciting journey at the Amp Cup, ready to test ourselves against teams at the very highest level and we go into this tournament, mentally fit and full of confidence,” the England head coach finished with.