Wycombe Wanderers Football Club kicked off their pre-season training schedule with a morning of assessments at the Human Performance Laboratory at Buckinghamshire New University.

Sporting their brand-new training kit, the players were coached through the sessions by Bucks New University BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy students, helping to assess their physical condition ahead of the new 2019/20 League 1 campaign.

The testing included a series of body measurements, muscle strength tests and a body composition test, determining body fat and lean mass percentages in the Bod Pod facility.

Defender Jason McCarthy said: “It was great to see all the boys again after a long summer away and everyone seems to be feeling fit and fresh and ready to go again for pre-season training.

“Body testing is a big part of football these days and it’s important for us as players, and for our coaches and physios, to get the best possible understanding of our strengths and weaknesses so we know what work needs to be done during pre-season and beyond.

“The Human Performance Lab at Bucks New University is a fantastic facility and all the staff made us feel extremely welcome and well-informed about what each activity involved.

"Now we’re looking forward to getting back on the training pitch, getting the footballs out and making sure we’re ready for the start of the season in a few weeks’ time.”

Neal Reynolds, Senior Lecturer in Sports Therapy, said it had been ‘a fantastic opportunity’ for Bucks students from the Sports Therapy programme to assist Wycombe Wanderers medical team with their pre-season testing of the first team squad.

He added: “The testing took place in the University’s state-of-the-art Human Performance, Exercise and Wellbeing Centre and the experience that the students gained from this was invaluable.

“Performing base line physical measurements is a vital component of the pre-season period to hopefully identify possible injury risks and consequently influence injury prevention strategies.

“We are very proud at Bucks New University to have an on-going partnership with Wycombe Wanderers, our local professional football team, and to be able to provide our students in gaining work experience within an elite sporting environment.”

Isaac Leckie, from the club's medical team, added: "We've been looking at the boys ' strength, flexibility, body composition and their movement control, which gives us an indication of where they're at after the summer break.

"The boys were buzzing to see each other again and we'd like to say a big thanks to the university for having us and providing students to help us with the testing."

Wycombe Wanderers’ league season begins on Saturday 3 August against Bolton Wanderers at Adams Park (kick-off 3pm).