Liverpool fullback Andrew Robertson says he's welcomed the extended World Cup break.
Robertson is now with the Reds squad in Dubai.
"We had a bit of a holiday – a bit of a break," he told liverpoolfc.com. "I just tried to switch off and then tried to keep myself ticking over. It was great to spend time with the family, great to spend time with the kids. Family holidays are always rare, and I managed to get a good few days with them – they loved it. They loved having daddy there. Yeah, it was a good time.
"You start getting itchy feet and you want to get back on that grass and you want to start playing and you miss the boys and all the staff. I think we got to that point; we're good to go again and excited to be back.
"It's obviously been different. The last couple of years we've had a break in February but you're coming back with maybe 10 or 12 Premier League games, but we've still got most of the Premier League ahead of us. It's been difficult. Before the break I thought we were getting a bit of momentum, started putting in good performances and we started improving a lot, so it's important we pick that up.
"We've not got any time to waste, the start of the season hasn't been what we wanted. It's been nowhere near the standards that the fans have been used to for us, so it's important when we come back we try to hit the ground running because that's all we can do. It's the only way we have to do it and these 12 or 13 days here will be so important for that just to try to get football back in the legs – get your touch back, get your fitness back and we'll be good to go come the 22nd."