Town striker David McGoldrick will spend next week in the US working with top strength and reconditioning coach Bill Knowles as he continues his comeback from the knee injuries which ended his 2013/14 campaign.
McGoldrick, 26, tore a medial knee ligament during the 0-0 draw with Blackpool in February, then as he closed in on a return to action underwent surgery for a cartilage problem.
Town’s 16-goal top scorer has continued his recovery work throughout the summer and will now travel to Philadelphia to work with Knowles, who has previously helped the likes of Mario Balotelli, Frank Lampard, Tiger Woods and Jonny Wilkinson back to fitness.
"This will give Didz [McGoldrick] the opportunity to have an intense week of rehabilitation with an internationally renowned strength and conditioning coach,” Town physio Matt Byard told the club website.
"We have been working closely with a specialist in London, Andy Williams, and it’s on his recommendation that Didz is going to the States.
"I spoke to the manager about it and what we wanted to do. He spoke to the owner and straight away came back and said we had the go ahead, which is obviously great to receive that support.”
Byard says McGoldrick won’t be involved in the early part of pre-season with the rest of the squad but should be OK for the start of 2014/15 proper.
"When Didz comes back to us, we will follow the same programme for another week that Bill Knowles set out for him over the first week, which means he will stay at the training ground rather than go with the rest of the squad to Ireland. That will be more beneficial for him,” the Blues physio added.
"The original injury was a medial ligament that he almost ruptured. He worked really hard to get back from that and was closing in on a return when he had the cartilage tear. That was a setback and he had to have an operation.
"We then embarked on some injection therapy and that has helped to tighten up the medial ligament and helped the general repair of the knee. He went through a slow rehab period in May and increased that gradually in June.
"We’ve had some really good feedback from the specialist and we are now at a point of really ramping up Didz’s rehab and that is what next week is all about.
"Everything has gone according to plan in terms of his recovery and the timeframe that is involved, which we set as soon as we knew Didz would need the cartilage operation.
"He won’t be in Ireland and the West Ham game will also be too early for him but we are gearing towards him being right to play games in pre-season and being fully fit for the start of the season — and importantly to be ready to embark on another full season of Championship football.”