Adam Hinshelwood pleased with York City's pre-season progress

After pre-season wrapped up last Saturday with a 3-3 draw at Spennymoor Town, Hinshelwood turned his attention to York's visit to Southend United tomorrow (3pm) as City look to begin their league campaign in a winning fashion.

Hinshelwood has also been pleased with the pre-season campaign, despite admitting that his side had been struggling with injuries, and reflected on the hard work that had gone on behind-the-scenes.

“I’m really excited actually, pre-season seems to have gone on forever," Hinshelwood enthused.

"We’re happy with how that has gone, and I think we’re all ready now to get the season underway.

“I think they have been relatively focused throughout pre-season, they’ve worked hard throughout pre-season and have got the necessary distance into the legs each week.

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"In an ideal world, we probably would have had the lads available for training a little bit more, we had a period in pre-season where we had a lot of injuries.

"It looked like we wouldn’t even have a squad to travel to Southend at one point!

"It’s how it’s turned out now, we’ve got a good squad to choose from, and in that sense it is pleasing.

"We would have liked to have got some more minutes into the legs for one or two, but with that all said and done, we’re happy with the shape that the squad is in.

“Definitely the challenge for pre-season is making sure that they get the minutes in and the work done, at the same time we ultimately want them fit for the Southend game.

"The vast majority are in a good place heading into this season, there will obviously be niggles picked up by players and some might be wear and tear from previous injuries.

"You can’t really cater for it because it is going to happen through pre-season, people are going to pick up strains and knocks.

"It all seemed to happen in that one game at Darlington where we picked up all sorts of injuries on that day.

Adam Hinshelwood is considering a training programme for Lenell John-Lewis. Picture: York City FC

"Len [Lenell John-Lewis] picked up one the Saturday before as well, so it’s good to get him back and get minutes.

"We can have no complaints heading into the first game, the lads have worked hard in pre-season."

Pre-season is often about building fitness and minutes into the legs, but it has changed since Hinshelwood was previously a player himself.

The York manager explained the analytical work that he and his team produce on the players, as well as how the game has altered since he made the transition from player to manager.

Hinshelwood detailed: “It has certainly evolved with the science, it’s a lot more modern in terms of the data and all of the analysis out there for the players to get.

"Back in my day you wouldn’t see a football for the first week, you’d literally just do straight line running.

"The lads came back in good condition so you can get on with ball work in the first couple of days which is good, we spent the first couple of days doing some testing and re-tested the players.

"We were happy with the progress that they have made in the games of pre-season.

"It’s football in general just moving forward, the science now that goes into it and having those couple of days at the uni really helps to see where the players are.

"It helps us to move their programme along a lot quicker.

"Back in my day we were just slogging around a track, doing 1500 meters and I was relatively fit, I could run and was alright in pre-season to be honest.

"It was something that I shirked and quite enjoyed it, I think that Mark McGhee [managed Hinshelwood at Brighton & Hove Albion from 2003 to 2006] might have even started me as a right-midfielder off of the back of it, because I could run.

"I don’t think it was because of my crossing ability, that’s for sure!

"In a high tempo game we want to be on the front foot, we want to be able to press teams and we need players that are fit to do that.

“They wear the units so every sort of centre-meter that they cover is tracked now.

"There’s no hiding place, there’s been times throughout pre-season where we get a live feed on training and we get a target to hit, for instance in the last couple of days we’ve tried to hit 7k.

"Some players have hit that sooner than the others, so we do a little bit more for those that need topping up.

Adam Hinshelwood and his staff have been doing analytical work throughout pre-season. (Image: York City FC)

"It’s generally the midfield players that hit those targets a bit quicker, but to have that sort of data and that technology available to us on a day-to-day basis is something that I had at Brighton, but moving to Worthing it was something we didn’t have.

"We had to do a little bit more by the eye, but your eyes don’t lie, you can tell when a player is getting a bit tired and a bit fatigued.

"There have been times throughout pre-season where they will have gone into games a bit fatigued, but we’re hoping now that we will go into this game this week a lot fresher and ready to go."