With some notable tans, fresh haircuts and a couple of new faces in the building, Bristol City's pre-season got underway on Monday to kick-start preparations for the upcoming campaign.
Some players will relish getting back to work, others certainly won't - captain Dan Bentley is not one to beat around the bush after admitting he "despises it and everything about it."
Not that it comes as much of a surprise with the group thrown straight into action on day one by being put through a brutal SDS (single-double-single) test before undergoing another series of fitness drills and exercises with the ball.
City will soon jet off to Europe at the end of the month, where the player's endurance will be pushed to the limit before returning to take on Cheltenham Town in their first of six pre-season matches on July 6. Those games will come to an end on July 23 in an away match at Bournemouth.
City's campaign then gets underway a week later and the club will learn of their opponents during the fixture releases on Thursday.
There's still a lot that can happen in regards to City's squad during that period of time and some players who were part of pre-season on Monday are unlikely to remain Robins players by the time the first game of the campaign comes around at the end of next month.
On Monday, the club released behind-the-scenes footage of the lads in action on the first day and here's the talking points from the clip.
King on site
Only the eagle-eyed viewers would have spotted City's veteran midfielder among the ranks during the SDS test exercise behind Chris Martin as he eagerly awaited his series of sprints.
That in itself is a big indication King is likely to remain a Robin next season despite the ongoing silence over his contract situation. City have offered him a one-year contract in a player/coach role having endured a frustrating season with hamstring injuries.
Bristol Live understands that negotiations over his future are still ongoing although they have made progress and it appears the contract is likely to be signed within the next week.
King's playing time next season is expected to remain limited having made just 10 league starts in 2021/22 after two hamstring injuries, but his invaluable experience will prove hugely beneficial to the likes of Dylan Kadji who appears ready to train with the first-team this summer following his showing on Monday with the manager keen to keep an eye on him.
Matty James' fitness
Flashbacks to the days of beep tests at school while watching the group being put through the SDS as they collapsed to the floor after undergoing their final sprints.
The video showed the two sets of groups which were set in running times against each other, firstly jogging up and down the indoor pitch before later sprinting to the increasing rhythm of the dreaded beep.
The likes of Chris Martin, Rob Atkinson, Taylor Moore and Ryley Towler were all in the first group alongside James who again highlighted he is the ultimate professional as he cannoned down the final stretch of the pitch, keeping up with the youngsters in Towler, Moore and Kadji.
A little congratulatory message from Dasilva was in order before the wing-back took part in the second group where Sam Bell and Han-Noah Massengo appeared to set the bar with their pace and fitness.
Manager Pearson was filmed giving a small speech to his players during the clip in which he commented on the player's fitness. He said: "You've already proved you're in decent nick, most of you... all of you really."
One player that didn't appear to be taking part in the running tests was defender Tomas Kalas. He missed the last two months of action with injury and his lack of involvement potentially suggests he is still undergoing treatment although he was pictured turning up to the HPC in the morning.
SDS test explainer: It's a high-intensity interval test over 60 metres split by three 20m distances. The players run the full 60m, then have to run double distance and back to the single once again as the speed of the beep increases. They are carried out at the same location to allow for a controlled climate and therefore enable the same test to be repeated in the same conditions later in the season.
The players in attendance
We've already mentioned the two notable absentees in Kasey Palmer and Robbie Cundy, both of whom are expected to complete transfers to Coventry and Barnsley respectively over the coming week.
Manager Pearson said at the end of the season that he told a handful of players that their futures belong elsewhere having fallen out of favour in his plans. Although he didn't name names, one can do the maths and work out defenders Zak Vyner, Moore and midfielder Tyreeq Bakinson are likely to be looking for new clubs next season.
Moore hasn't played for the Robins since August against Forest Green Rovers in the Carabao Cup having spent the rest of last season at Hearts and there have been little indication that Pearson plans to keep him beyond this window.
Vyner was dropped midway through the second half of last season with the manager citing the same players making similar individual errors while in the case of Bakinson, Pearson made it clear he had no plans to bring him back to the fold following his rather frosty loan departure to Ipswich in January.
He was then asked whether Bakinson had any route back into the side ahead of the new season in which the manager once again made his point clear.
However, the three were in attendance at the High Performance Centre on Monday being put through their drills suggesting that an exit is still relatively far down the line. Ipswich had the option in the loan deal to sign Bakinson permanently but are still weighing up whether to make the switch.
Headlines surrounding both Vyner and Moore's exits have been extremely quiet as it stands but with a year left on their deals, the club will be willing to listen to any offers although those are deals that could drag on throughout the summer.
Kadji's attendance suggests Pearson is taking a closer look at the young midfielder following his success for the Under-23s last season. Although the club are often keen to give the younger generation the opportunity to train with the first team for obvious reasons which is what they did with 17-year-old defender Jamie Lebel-Knight last season for example.
Fellow youngster Will Buse was also training with the players alongside the goalkeepers Bentley, Max O'Leary and Harvey Wiles-Richards. The 20-year-old signed a new one-year contract extension yesterday.
Pearson's challenge to his players
There was a brief segment during the clip in which the manager rounded up the group and spoke to them about the upcoming campaign, slyly warning them wearing a wry smile of what awaits in pre-season.
The message was loud and clear and that was to encourage his players to push themselves in pre-season to give them the best possible chance of achieving their goals in the following campaign.
He said: "If we get the pre-season right, we'll have a good season. Get the preparation right for the season but it's all about performance, simple as that.
"So the games that we play, the training camp are about us coming together as a group and making sure we set the right standards. You players always drive it but we can have a really good season if we build on the positive aspects of last year.
"So I was going to say enjoy it, but... enjoy the challenge of pre-season and make sure you do yourself justice. That's what it's about. You're in competition with each other which is always healthy too so try and be the best versions of yourselves you can be and we, as staff, we're here to support you so welcome to anybody that is new. Staff and players alike but we are here to achieve so sort of enjoy it."
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