Manchester United skills coach Rene Meulensteen is delighted to be involved in senior preseason training.

"The Manager will always look into picking pre-season games for a reason," he told MUTV. "There's a reason we're going up to Aberdeen. It's early in the pre-season, it's a good game to put everyone through their paces.

"Then we go on the South Africa tour and play opposition over there, and it's all designed to make sure everyone's physically fit. I think it really starts to kick in when we play Espanyol for Ole's testimonial, and then obviously Juventus after that."

While the coaching staff are charged with bringing United's players up to speed for the commencement of the new campaign, Meulensteen admits he has to monitor individuals' mental state as much as their physical well-being.

"It's not only the physical fitness, it's the mental state as well," he said. "That's measured in a certain way so that we can see the readiness of the players to train or play in games.

"It's a big benefit now, that we can judge players not only by the eye, but also by results. We can see who needs to rest a bit longer and who needs to step it up. I think that avoids injuries, which is a big thing for long seasons where you're competing for all prizes."