JOBI McAnuff is hard at it in Austria, but knows the importance of getting that first win under his belt at Selhurst Park on August 9.
Given that fact that he's a former Crystal Palace man, it's no surprise that three points on the opening day might be just what he requires.
Opening day may seen like a way away, given that the players have only just returned a week ago, but that all important first game is closing in fast and McAnuff knows that a good start is just what's needed.
Speaking of the gruelling task that is pre-season, he said: "I think you have the initial excitement of coming back and seeing everyone, but it soon goes away when you hit the training! It's getting tougher by the day out here, but we had a decent summer break this year so it's only right that we hit the ground running and get our fitness levels up.
"A lot of managers are similar to the gaffer in that the long distance running is a thing of the past. I think managers like Arsene Wenger have come over here and changed the mentality of pre-season training. So you can't blame people for following the lead of one of the best managers around."
Out in the Alps, the players have been hit with double sessions every day in a bid to get them back to their peak condition and McAnuff is definitely feeling the burn.
"We've had the afternoons to ourselves after being up early and training in the morning and then it's training again at 4.30pm. There's not much to do out here in our free time, but we're not here to have fun, we're here to work and we're certainly doing that.
"We're quite near where we were last year, but just over the border. This is my first time staying in Austria. It's very similar to Scandinavia where I've been before and the facilities that we have here are first class.
"We've all got the first game in our sights and we know that it doesn't matter how hard we work out here, it's all about winning our first game. We had an excellent start to the season last year and we need to replicate that."
GET SMS ALERTS FIRST AND FASTEST - CLICK HERE
