SOUTHGATE: THIS IS NO HOLIDAY

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate has warned his players not to expect an extended holiday in Austria.

A 28-strong squad flew out for the club's nine-day training camp in Bas Waltersdorf as Southgate and his staff began preparations for the new season.

However, while the trip will give new signings Tuncay Sanli and Jeremie Aliadiere a chance to get to know their colleagues, it will be far from a sunshine break.

Southgate said: "I don't like the term 'bonding' because that suggests it will be some sort of holiday, which it certainly won't be.

"But it's helpful that the players will be living together for 10 days.

"It's a first-class opportunity for our two new signings, Jeremie and Tuncay, to get to know their new team-mates.

"The trip gives the squad an opportunity to spend some time together in an environment where they can focus solely on training, free from all other distractions.

"It is all part of the pre-season build-up of fitness. It will be an intense training period, so we will go into the two games on the back of tough training sessions.

"The climate out in Austria is excellent, while the facilities we will have access to are very good too, so it's an ideal situation."

Tuncay and Aliadiere have been drafted in in the wake of leading scorer Mark Viduka's move to Newcastle, while speculation continues over Ayegbeni Yakubu's future on Teesside.

Southgate will await developments on that front as he continues his rebuilding work, but in the short term he is concentrating on the task of honing his players for their opening Premier League clash with Blackburn on August 11.

They will play two games during their time in Austria, against German Bundesliga runners-up Schalke on Friday, and Hertha Berlin next Tuesday.

Southgate told the club's official website: "At this stage of pre-season we would normally be playing a training match at Rockliffe Park behind closed doors, and I won't be treating these games any differently.

"I see the two games out there as no more than training sessions in a match environment. Schalke and Hertha Berlin will offer us good quality opposition, but it really doesn't matter who we play.

"No-one will play more than 45 minutes in the first game against Schalke so it will be all change at half-time.

"It might be a little different in the second match, but both games are really about us seeing how the players are shaping up in terms of their condition."

Taken from=football365=