Sheffield Wednesday star makes pre-season admission

Steve Bruce's side reported back for fitness testing after the summer break last Friday to begin their preparations for the forthcoming Championship campaign.

Less than 24 hours after attending the club's annual community fun day Owls in the Park, which attracted in the region of 15,000 Wednesdayites, Wednesday flew out to Portugal on Monday morning to kick off an intense warm-weather training camp across Europe.

The squad were joined on the plane by Julian Börner, Moses Odubajo and Kadeem Harris. Despite the club having not officially announced their signings due to a soft transfer embargo, it is understood the trio have agreed deals to join Bruce's Owls revolution. The trio were present at Owls in the Park, signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans.

Lees said: "Everybody is ready to get going again. Everyone has come back in good shape so it shows that everyone has been looking after themselves over the summer. It is just about getting back into it now.

"The hard work starts now and this is the base for our season.

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"I'm sure everybody is looking forward to getting started again and going away together will be a good way to get to know the new players as well. Hopefully it will create a good start to the season for us."

Wednesday face Reading at the Madejski Stadium in their league opener on August 3. Slow starts have hindered the Owls' ability to challenge for promotion in recent years but centre-half Lees is confident a "good pre-season" can help them come out of the traps quickly.

"It's important that we get a good pre-season," stressed Lees. "I don't think there is anybody that has got an injury at the moment. Everybody is back in fit and ready to go. Your pre-season really sets you up for the rest of the year.

"It's at Christmas time where you know whether you have done a good pre-season because you have got that base around you.

"It is the most important time of the year and it is good being able to have everyone out there able to do it."

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