United boss Garry Monk says the release of the 2016/17 Sky Bet Championship fixture list gives his players something to really focus on as they prepare to begin pre-season training at Thorp Arch.

United kick-off the new campaign with a televised trip to Queens Park Rangers on Sunday August 7 (12pm kick-off), before Monk takes charge of his first competitive match at Elland Road with the visit of Birmingham City the following weekend.

The new head coach has been laying down plans for the season ahead since his appointment three weeks ago, but Wednesday’s long-awaited announcement of the fixtures has now given Monk and his squad something concrete to work towards.

“The first game is a good one for the players to focus on and try and get off to a good start,” he told leedsunited.com.

“Then the first home game against Birmingham is a big one. It’s our first game at Elland Road and it’s massive for us to kick-off the new season there.

“But, looking through the fixture list, the way I approach the season will always be one game at a time. I’ll make the players focus purely on that first game.

“We want to have a good pre-season now and it’s all about gearing up for that first game at QPR.

“When you look at fixture lists, certain games will mean certain things to different people.

“Certain players might look forward to playing teams they’ve had an attachment to or the fans might look forward to certain games more than others.

“For myself, it’s really just about putting this plan into pre-season, getting the good work done with the players, helping to improve the squad and getting us to a place so that, when it comes to that QPR game, we’re ready to have a really good start to the season.”

United’s 2016/17 schedule includes league trips to the likes of Newcastle and Aston Villa for the first time since the respective clubs competed in the top-flight, while the new season also features a first ever competitive visit to newly-promoted Burton Albion.

“I’m really looking forward to it now,” said Monk. “It’s something to get your teeth into.

“You look at the fixture list as a manager and, in terms of preparation, you don’t really look at it like ‘who are we playing here?’ or ‘are we at home or away?’

“Of course those things are taken into account, but really it’s about what type of preparation you can do around those key periods of the season like the Christmas period.

“That’s what you think about when the fixture list comes out.

“Some games will mean more to others but we’re just going to be focusing on each game as it comes.”

Looking ahead to the start of pre-season training next week, the head coach added: “For the last two or three weeks I’ve been making sure that we’re all prepared, we’re all organised and everything’s ready so that the players can hit the ground running when they step back in.

“We want it to be organised and clear for them with the plan that I have.

“We’ll get to work straight away. We’re looking forward to it and hopefully the players will all come back in good condition.

“We’ll use pre-season to get them at their peak and get that knowledge into them and this different way of working which I have.”

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