Timothee Dieng says pre-season can play a crucial part in developing relationships and style of play as the new league campaign approaches.
Timothée Dieng says the weather is warm, the setting is beautiful and the team are bonding well... but Gillingham’s trip to Como is anything but a summer vacation.
The French midfielder believes that the key to a good season is preparing well and he is targeting a good performance against local Serie B side Como 1907 after putting in maximum effort in some blazing hot training sessions.
“We want to be ready for the first game of the season,” said Dieng. “We are looking to get match fit and get some confidence.
“Every pre-season game is important and we are looking to get into the pace of the game as we obviously haven’t played a lot of games over the last three months.
“It’s very hot, way hotter than England. Especially at 3 o’clock when we train. Definitely one of the hottest training sessions I have ever had, but we got through it and we survived.
“It’s all about fitness now and getting into habits on the pitch. It’s good for the new players to adapt to their new team. Every game is important and we are going to take it seriously.
“It’s good to see the effort the fans have made to come over here and be part of the trip with us. Hopefully we can put on a good performance on Wednesday and make them happy.
“I can’t wait to get back to a packed Priestfield and play in front of our fans. There is a good buzz and the fans and players can all feel it. We are looking forward to the start of the season.”