Adelaide United captain Travis Dodd has returned to the club for pre-season training after enjoying a five-week break. The 2008/09 season for the Reds was both mentally and physically draining and the chance to get away was grabbed with both hands by Dodd.

"I thought after a week or two I'd be itching to come back but I went away with the kids for a week and went away with my wife and a couple of friends for another two weeks and it was fantastic to be honest," he said.

"Not once did I think about football, it was only when I came back from holidays and I had phone call when I got back into the country asking what was happening with the club. It was good not to deal with anything for the whole time."

Since returning to training, Dodd said it was nice to ease back into it and not be flogged from the start.

"We had a week of testing and then we had our first solid week of training and then this week," he added.

"It's been pretty good so far, we are working our way into it which is good, they don't come out and start smashing us from day one ...and there's a lot of ball work out there so the boys are pretty happy to be there."