Dubai trip no holiday, insists Slav

  • by Staff Writer
  • Thursday, 16th February 2017

Slaven Bilic insists that the trip to Dubai will be no holiday for his players.

The first team squad have flown to the Middle East ahead of a brief mid-season break and some 'warm weather' training, with the next fixture (at Watford) still ten days away.

But the manager says the players will be working even harder than they would had they remained in England.

"I told the Chairman that we’re going to train more there than we would do if we stayed here," he said. "100 per cent.

"It’s very common in England [to have a mid-season break] but I’ve been here for a year-and-a-half and we have never been anywhere - because last year we were still in the FA Cup. So I decided to go there.

"We’re going out there for four days and we’re going to train hard. We’re going to raise our fitness for the remainder of the season, but the players also have to mentally recharge their batteries so it’s a mixture of both.

"But we are going there to train."




The touring party has been joined by recent arrivals Jose Fonte and Robert Snodgrass - whilst Diafra Sakho, who has featured in just two matches so far this season has also flown out, as has fellow long-term crock Alvaro Arbeloa.

Sadly the weather may not be as pleasant as usual in the UAE for this time of year, according to Chief Medic Stijn Vandenbroucke.

"The forecast is for rain over the four days we are there," he said, "but it still represents a change of scenery for the squad and a possibility for us to work intensively with the players who need some extra fitness work."

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