Which Spireite has come back a '˜machine'? Who is the quickest? Fitness coach reveals all

Gaz Piper, with the club for an initial seven-week period, says it’s difficult to judge who the fittest is among the squad.

But one name that has cropped up may raise a few eyebrows outside the Proact.

“It depends how you gauge that,” he said, speaking at the club’s pre-season tour base in Huelva, Spain.

“We’ve done a few running drills that we’ve used regularly over the years.

“We know what a typical midfielder might get, a defender might get.

“A player who is up there, and he’s not surprised me but he’s one you wouldn’t assume would be, is Evo (Ian Evatt). He’s fantastic.”

The 35-year-old defender has made no secret of the fact that he barely gave himself a day off this summer before reporting back for pre-season

That work on his own time has paid off handsomely.

Piper said: “He’s come back - this time last year he did body fats and I think he was a stone heavier. Make what you want of that.

“But this time he’s come back an absolute machine.

“It’s been shown in the running drills.”

Academy product Charlie Wakefield has also caught the eye, coming out on top of a five-minute running test.

As for the quickest, that’s yet to be decided.

But a striker has already staked an early claim to the title.

“The quickest so far, Delial Brewster is up there,” said former Wigan Athletic coach Piper.

“In week five we start doing our speed work so we’ll get a really good gauge of that.

“Just off what we’ve seen in games and training so far, Delial is up there.”