Port Vale assistant manager Mark Grew has admitted that the club's squad are undergoing a "tough" training regime ahead of the new season.
Vale continued their League One preparations on Tuesday night with a 6-0 victory over Irish side Athlone Town, and Grew has revealed that they sent their players out for their latest friendly with "stiff legs".
The 55-year-old told the club's official website: "The pleasing thing is that we haven't suffered any injuries and the players have been training hard so it's going well.
"The training has been tough, we trained yesterday morning so the players would be going into the Athlone match with stiff legs, they all came through that well and we trained again this morning."
The Valiants begin the new season with a home fixture with Brentford.