Town manager Roy Keane says his priorities during pre-season will be his players’ fitness and getting a settled side. The Blues boss has revealed that there will be no reprise of last summer’s visit to Colchester Garrison or the warm weather training camp in Portugal.
Keane told the club site: "Last year we did a lot of travelling and we pushed the players a lot. We have decided not to go to Portugal this year, there will be no army barracks either.
"The focus of our pre-season will be around the training ground. We've got some good games and are looking at other fixtures. They are well spread out, but we don't want to get bogged down by games.
"We had a lot of changes during pre-season last year. Our priority this time is getting players fit and getting a settled side, particularly the back four."
Town, who start pre-season training next Monday, have already confirmed friendlies at Southend on Friday 9th July, against PSV in Eindhoven on Saturday 17th July, while West Ham are at Portman Road on Saturday 31st July, and a Spurs XI are in Suffolk on Tuesday 3rd August.
The Blues are likely to play two more Dutch sides as part of a tour of Holland.