Stoke City striker Mamady Sidibe has welcomed their tough first week of preseason training.
While most players will tell you how much they dislike this time of year, Sidibe is looking at things in a different light as he strives to build up his fitness ahead of the opening day clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
"It was hard last season, very hard," he told stokecityfc.com at the Club's training camp in Austria. "When you play without a pre-season behind you, it is very hard to build your fitness up, and I did struggle throughout the season.
"That is why this time I am just happy to be doing it. It is tough, but when I start to think how tough it is I just think that at least I am here getting fit rather than sitting at home injured, which was the frustrating story for me last year."
