Boss Roy Keane has told his players to go away and enjoy their summer breaks. But the new Blues manager has warned them that he has a tough pre-season programme waiting for them when they come back.

Keane told the club site: "I want the players to go away and enjoy their break. Mentally and physically you need to rest after a long, hard season.

"The body needs a break because it's the only one it's really going to get through the season. There are no Easter and Christmas holidays off and you need the summer period to recharge the batteries and rest the muscles, the tendons and the fibres.

"We will have a good training plan for them when they come back that and it will be tough. I'm looking forward to it already!

"Modern footballers tends to look after themselves in the summer now, though. They don't come back to pre-season a stone overweight.

"Hopefully, they will see the benefits of pre-season training when the season starts. We want them to have good fitness levels, but just as importantly we want to make sure we avoid injuries during that time."

Keane recently revealed in an interview in an Irish newspaper that he plans to involve the army in Colchester in his pre-season plans.

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