Preston North End fans will see an almost entirely new squad kick-off the season.
Deepdale boss Graham Westley has been working this week, in the main, with just the signings he’s made since taking charge in January.
Bailey Wright, Thorsten Stuckmann and Will Hayhurst are the exception to that rule, the trio already at the club when Westley arrived.
Goalkeeper Stuckmann is a big part of the first-team plans in 2012/13, while Wright and Hayhurst will continue developing their talents within the squad.
But it seems Westley sees the future without the rest of the players he inherited – they are due back to report for training next Tuesday.
Westley told the Evening Post: “I said it before that I fully expected a lot of new lads in the squad.
“As things stand now, that is still my expectation.
“Work is still to be done on completing some exits.
“As they happen, I’m sure we will make the signings which will deliver us the base of players needed to give us the confidence to win football matches.
“Could the whole squad change? Something along those lines might happen.
“Stucks is very much part of the plans going forward.
“But most of the other lads have expressed a desire to move on, or expressed a desire to develop their careers in a different way.
“Whether it is me making a judgement for them or them making a judgement for themselves, I could see virtually all the squad changing over.”
Westley and his coaching staff have spent the last two days working with the 2012 signings.
They were out on the pitch at Springfields yesterday doing a double session following fitness tests on Tuesday.
The condition in which they’ve reported back after the summer has impressed Westley.
He said: “The lads have kept themselves in good nick.
“They are a decent level of fitness already – above what I found in January, which was mid-season.
“It is now about pushing that on to a level where, when teams play Preston, they are facing the fittest team in the division.
“Pre-season is a key segment of the campaign.
“The level of science available nowadays to help the players is exceptional.
“We did fitness tests on Tuesday and can assess the lads in great detail.
“When I was a player, pre-season training was totally haphazard – subjective not objective.
“We weren’t given the statistical information about physical levels which we can get nowadays.”
Meanwhile, former PNE trainee Luke Clark has joined Accrington Stanley.
The midfielder, 18, was offered a one-year professional contract by North End in May after completing his apprenticeship.
But he rejected the deal and left Deepdale, and started training with Accrington yesterday.
Clark links-up with ex-Preston midfielder George Miller at the Crown Ground.
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