Alex Morris says the last few days in Loughborough has only further enhanced the team spirit amongst the group. The Alex squad have worked extremely hard in sweltering conditions but have enjoyed some down time too away from training.

That has only helped enhanced grow relationships and allow the five new players and first year professionals to settle into the squad even more.

Morris has been grateful for the opportunity to take the squad away for three days and sample a different training complex at the impressive University.

Morris told the club’s official website: “It has been great to get all the players together and to spend time outside of the football environment. You spend a lot of time together in the same environment at the training ground, day in and day out, so we have made it an absolute priority this year that we were going to get them outside of the Reaseheath environment and we have managed to do that with these few days away and the activities we have put on for them over the last week or so.

“We were spending 10, 12 hours a day together as a staff working on various things, so they have been long days, so I think it has been beneficial to get away from the place and mix more with the players in a different type of environment.

“When you go away as a group, you learn a lot of things, about the team and individually. How cohesive they are going to be, the relationships that are building between certain players. Of course, certain players are closer to some than others but we don’t have cliques here. Everybody gets on brilliantly well and these last few days have helped with that.

He added: “We are going to need that team spirit and togetherness right the way through. Not so much when you are 2-0 at home but when you are 1-0 down away in the middle of winter and balls are being loaded into your box that togetherness has to come to the fore.”