And after returning from a totally different training camp in Austria last weekend, the North End squad admit they fancy their chances of doing better when the new term kicks off in three weeks.

"I think everyone agrees America killed us a bit last year," admitted full-back Billy Jones.

"It maybe affected us for a long time during the season, whereas this year we are feeling great after Austria."

Winger Chris Sedgwick added: "It's important you get a good start and last year we put it down to the preparations we had in America.
Nightmare

"That set us back. In fact it set us back weeks I would say. We couldn't do the work that we wanted to do.

"But this summer things are going much better."

Preston's time in the United States proved a nightmare with Paul Simpson and his squad feeling they were let down badly by the company which organised the three-game trip.

The team's hotel in Portland was too near the airport for peaceful sleep, the food wasn't suitable for a tough pre-season training programme, and as two of the three matches were on artificial surfaces, it meant some players recovering from long-term injuries could not be risked.

Callum Davidson described the experience as 'a disaster'.

"There were no training pitches and we stayed near the airport with planes landing at 5am," he said. "As for the food, the boys were scraping the cheese off the lasagne because it was that unhealthy.

"I think it cost us a good start. For me it was a disaster and eventually led to the end of Paul Simpson's spell in charge."

Replacement Alan Irvine admits he had felt sorry for his predecessor following the horror stories of last pre-season.

But he swore to make sure this summer's preparations were in no way left to chance.

"I would always check out the places were are going before taking the squad away," he told the Evening Post.

"The thing about our training camp in Austria is I had been there before with Everton.

"I knew the facilities were superb, the food was very good and the people who ran the place were very professional.

"They have looked after some of the top clubs in Europe like Read Madrid and Arsenal and teams like that don't go back if things aren't perfect."

Irvine believes the week in Austria, which ended with an 11-0 win over a local team, will prove extremely beneficial for his players as they near the start of the new campaign.

Before taking his squad to Morecambe this afternoon, he said: "The lads have been terrific in pre-season training. They have worked really hard and I've been delighted.

"The emphasis so far has been on fitness, we haven't really done the real detail of the football work, it's been fitness and early touches.

"But we will get into more detail as time goes on. There are things to work on, that's for sure."