Keane: There'll be pain in Spain
Roy Keane insists Sunderland's trip to Spain this week is about shuttle runs and sprints rather than sun loungers and sandy beaches!
The manager has taken his players to a training camp on the Iberian peninsula and return to wet and windy Wearside tomorrow.
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But Keane insists that the trip could not be further from being an end-of-season jolly and that the purpose of the training camp is to freshen up his squad for the run-in to the end to the campaign.
He said: "Some people mentioned golf clubs to me but the fact is it's a training camp. It's not as if there's a week to go until the end of the season and we are going for a knees-up.
"We will be training in a proper footballing set-up."
The plan was for a recovery session on Sunday after the win against West Ham the day before, double training sessions yesterday and today, and the return flight tomorrow.
"Essentially, it's just a change of scenery," added Keane. "I know weather conditions have not been great, but our training pitches just seem to take the brunt of it.
"It will be nice for the lads to get out into a decent environment, like we've done before. I think last season we went to Portugal and that worked well in terms of the shape and state of mind we came back in.
"A change of scenery is always good. Sometimes it is difficult to work on certain things on the training pitch because of the weather conditions.
"It will be nice to have better conditions, to get a break from things, to recharge the batteries and also to get the players away together – and the staff as well, because they deserve a break, too."
Sunderland's players travelled to Spain in buoyant mood after the thrilling 2-1 win over West Ham which, coupled with the victory over Aston Villa the previous week, gave the Black Cats their first back-to-back wins in the Premier League since Boxing Day, 2001.
But Keane believes that far from there being some sort of miracle change in the set-up, all that is happening is that he is getting the benefits of having players back and approaching full fitness who have been missing for so much of the season.
He said: "The biggest plus from my point of view is that I've now had have a full squad to pick from in the last couple of weeks. It's no coincidence that I've had 20-21 players to choose from in training and that the team's performance has improved at the same time.
"We've got real competition for places and that's not only driving players on but it's also ensuring the bench is a stronger one too."
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Weather for Sunderland
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
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Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
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