Luke Norris is looking to hit the ground running in pre-season as he targets an immediate return to the Sky Bet League One for Town.
Part of the side that suffered relegation last season, the striker has been keeping himself ticking over during his summer break with all players assigned an in-depth workout plan.
And, with promotion the aim, Norris knows it is crucial that he and his team-mates report back to duty in the best possible shape in order to fly out of the traps once the Sky Bet League Two season starts in August.
“Every player needs their little summer break because you’ve got ten months of games, training and constant pressure,” he told swindontownfc.co.uk exclusively.
“It does take its toll on the body so it is a break we need and we can recharge and everyone can come back fresh and start pushing on for next season.
“We’ve all been set a summer fitness programme and it is quite a heavy programme. We have to put our input into it in terms of what we have been doing every single week so the guys can check up on us.
“We had a couple of weeks where it was complete rest and that’s what you need. It then slowly starts to build up and it gets a lot tougher towards the end of June.
“That will lead us into pre-season which I’m sure will be very tough.
“If you can come back in pre-season in good shape then you don’t need to do so much of the hard graft, I’m sure the first couple of weeks will be very tough, but then you can focus all of your time on the footballing side of it which is needed massively.
“If everyone comes back in good shape then we can hit the ground running.”
Town are currently on the lookout for a new manager and, whoever it is that is given the job, Norris knows the aim for next season will be promotion.
“There will be new faces coming in and when the new manager comes in we will be moving forward, so hopefully that can be announced soon so we can all kick on and start focusing on what we need to do,” he continued.
“The Chairman has said that promotion is the aim and that is going to be the aim of everyone here.
“Last season was a tough one for us and it was very disappointing so now we’ve got to give something back to the club and to the fans and we’ve got to bounce straight back.
“We’ve got to push for promotion and that is our aim.”
Finally, after enduring a frustrating debut campaign at The County Ground, Norris is hoping a full pre-season will enable him to produce the goods on a more regular basis in 2017/18.
“We’ll see where we are with the new manager and the new players coming in but, personally for me, I would like to start and play a lot more games than I did last year,” he added.
“I made quite a few appearances but a lot were substitute outings here and there and the goal return was nowhere near good enough.
“That is something that has got to improve and that is going to be my main aim for next season.
“Having a full pre-season under my belt will definitely help.
“We all have goals and I’ve got my own personal goals for next season, but the main aim is for us to bounce straight back and achieve promotion.
“Reaching the Play-Offs is the minimum target and that is what we have to achieve.”
