Norwich manager Alex Neil has spoken about how the team are getting back to work this week, as pre season begins ahead of their first season back in the Premier League.

Norwich must build on an excellent season

Norwich are back in the Premier League after gaining promotion from the Sky Bet Championship at their first attempt, clinching promotion by virtue of a play-off final victory over Middlesbrough.

Neil explained that "Everyone’s in great spirits because of the way we ended last season," but was concerned that "everyone had shot off in different directions after the play-off final," and his team needed to use pre-season to "find it's unity again".

Work hard, train hard says Neil

Pre season is always a time for hard graft, as player's look to return to match-fitness after a six week off season in which many have been on exotic holidays.

After two days of fitness testing at the Colney Training Centre, Norwich will move on to St George's Park to conduct some of their pre-season training, using the same facilities that the England squad does.

When asked about the purpose of the trip, Neil said that "you've got to go there and work hard," adding that "it's about getting the players in good shape and their minds focused."

The majority of the first-team squad will rejoin the management next week as training resumes, with only a few exceptions.

Nathan Redmond is one of those exceptions, as he has been given extended holiday after featuring for England in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Despite the Three Lions exiting the tournament at the group stage, Redmond impressed individually, and was duly selected in the competition's best 11.

Norwich's Premier League campaign kicks off with an away trip to Alan Pardew's Crystal Palace, on Saturday August 8th.

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