Sweltering start for Wanderers as they begin preparations for the Championship

Heatwave conditions have ensured a gruelling start to pre-season for Wanderers – and there will be no let-up by the Danube as they begin their training camp this week. Part of the reason for swapping the sea and sand of Spain for the more tranquil surroundings of Slovakia was that there might be some respite from the high temperatures they experienced last summer. Alas, the forecast for the week ahead in Bratislava is similar to that in the UK, the mercury rarely dipping below 30°C, with not a drop of cooling rain in sight. The pre-season plan was hatched before promotion was won to the Championship on the recommendation of a club whom Bolton will be competing against this season. Schumacher explained: "We were looking for a training venue and I quite like the one that we have used in Marbella before, but it wasn’t available for the exact date and weekend we wanted. "I’d had a conversation with Fergal (Harkin) last year about the heat in Marbella and if you remember it was absolutely sweltering and there were certain days when we spoke to the fitness coaches and saying ‘we might need to come off the players a bit here, the intensity of the sessions.’ "We had a chat about the venues that were available which might be a couple of degrees cooler – this was February, March – and the opportunity came up for Slovakia. "Portsmouth went there last year and so I asked John Mousinho, who is a good mate of mine, what he thought about it. "He gave me the rundown and we sent Richard Cooper and Jack Winnard over and they came back to say it was a first-class facility. "Hopefully it will be a little cooler than the south of Spain. "The other thing is that we were offered a really good game against a strong opposition. "Sometimes when you go to Marbella, you get a completely random game. "We don’t always know the levels, and we didn’t know anything about Orlando Pirates when we were over there, but they were really good. "The fixture at DAC Streda’s stadium is a really good one, so it ticked loads of boxes." Wanderers’ pre-season friendly schedule starts on Friday against DAC Streda and then continues on the team’s return to the UK with a trip to nearby Oldham Athletic on Tuesday, July 21 (7 pm kick-off). Premier League Everton visit the Toughsheet on Saturday, July 25 (3 pm kick-off), before another short trip to Fleetwood on Tuesday, July 28 (7 pm kick-off). The final warm-up game will be against Dutch outfit NAC Breda on Saturday, August 1 (3 pm kick-off) before the season officially begins with the first round of the Carabao Cup and a trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, August 8. Schumacher believes his side has a strong run of games to get themselves ready for Hillsborough. "Trying to get a good variety of games is important," he said. "I watched DAC Streda this week. "They lost, but they’re a good outfit and they’re a couple of weeks further along in their schedule as well. "They’ve already had three pre-season games. "When we go and play them on their pitch, it will be a really tough test because it’s our first game. "Quite often your first pre-season match is against local non-league opposition, but we’re playing a team who are going into the Conference League. "It’ll be a big test and we’re looking forward to that. "The games have got good variety – two League Two teams, a Premier League team and a team who played in the division last year. "There’ll be different things for us to think about." Schumacher was pleased with the condition in which his squad returned to Lostock and by their application during double sessions in difficult conditions this week. As the Whites were involved in the play-offs last season they returned a week later than many other clubs in the Championship, which Schumacher admits makes it even more important to get immediately down to business. "I wouldn’t like to be running around in that heat," he admitted. "I think this is my 25th pre-season as a player and a coach and it feels like a long, long time. "They've changed a lot, certainly from when I was 17, 18, doing Everton's pre-seasons, compared to what the players go through now. "It's a lot more scientific, a lot more game-related, game-specific, but still equally as difficult. "The off-season was good, I felt it was important that everybody got away and recharged, refreshed, we've done some good business I felt in the off-season. "We got four players in before we started pre-season, which was really positive, and then we brought one in this week as well, which has been great. "So, from that, getting new recruits in the building has been good. "It feels as though there's a good energy at the training ground, the lads have done really well so far, they've come back in good shape, in good condition and the training has been really positive." Drinks breaks have become a familiar sight on our TV screens over the summer at the World Cup and with the temperatures so high on the players’ return to action it is likely they will continue through the summer friendlies. Wanderers excelled in the blazing sunshine at Wembley in May and Schumacher hopes to see his side continue to enjoy themselves as the summer progresses. “I think Wembley was the hottest I've ever experienced,” he said. “That that was like an oven because of how intense everything is at pitch level, the heat just stays in. “That's the hardest I've worked in years because I was absolutely dripping. Wembley was on another level. This week has been tough, but there's a little bit of a breeze at the training ground, so, it's been a bit easier than Wembley. “I think, looking back at that day at Wembley, were there definitely drinks breaks that, well, I suppose they had to be used, because all three games ended up being played in swelter and heat, and in a small way, it may have ended up helping us get used to the drinks breaks we've seen at the World Cup matches. “In those sort of conditions, it's so important. Some of the games in the World Cup have been in air-conditioned stadiums, so I don't quite get them. “But certainly on that day, it was necessary, because as I say, the lads were overheating, from both teams, and even the whole weekend was the same.”