Danny Guthrie: “I think Ireland was extremely beneficial last year and it’s good to know that we’re going back.
“It’s going to be very tough for us when we get out there.
“But we bonded as a group last year, which was important for what we went on to achieve, and we’re looking forward to going back.
“There is a lot of hard work at this time of year, it’s part and parcel of the game. The trip to Ireland worked wonders for us last time and there is no reason why it can’t do so again.
“We’ve been eased back into it over the first few days of training, but the coaches will crank it up in Ireland. But we also do other things as well, like play golf.
“The real work starts when we get to Dublin. It’s not like the old days though. The lads were all given individual programmes before we went away and I think most of us have done the work we needed to do, or at least little bits here and there.
“It’s up to us whether we do them or not, but I think most of the boys have come back in pretty good shape.
“We know what the task is in front of us, it’s going to be another hard season, but it’s been completely different coming back this time.
“We know who the manager is and we also know what we need to do.
“It was chaotic last summer. There was so much in the press and on the television. We didn’t know what was going on, it feels a lot more settled this time.
“But, at the end of the day, we came back last year knowing we needed to get a good pre-season under our belts and it’s the same this time.
“It’s nice to be back. It’s been a long break so it’s good to see everyone again and get back into the swing of things.
“It’s been a completely different feeling to last summer. There was so much uncertainty this time last year when we came back for the start of pre-season.
“It’s been good to enjoy the summer knowing that we have achieved what we set out to do last season, it’s been a lot easier to kick back and relax knowing we’re going to be back in the top flight.”