Rafael van der Vaart is looking forward to getting a full preseason under his belt at Tottenham.
Van der Vaart missed Tottenham's pre-season preparations last season after a late, late switch from Real Madrid on transfer deadline day.
He told the club's website: "It's been quite hard, in fact, I think I prefer to come back a little later!
"Seriously though, it's been good. We've all had a holiday and now we're back in training and getting ready for a hard season. I feel great. I did my fitness sessions during the summer, so I feel good.
"You need this work, it's really important to get in shape.
"We have a tough pre-season, we go to South Africa and you want to stay fit for the whole season, so you need these sessions.
"I can remember when I came here, okay, I had pre-season at Madrid and I felt quite fit but here, the pace of the game is more intense than in Spain and that's why I had a few little injuries.
"At the end I played a lot of games and I hope to do the same next season."
