His seventh pre-season with Leeds United, defender Pascal Struijk is more excited than most to get going again, after missing the last five months of the 2023/24 campaign.

After an impressive start to the season, which saw him score five times in 25 games, the Dutch star was ruled out after undergoing groin surgery, following the Boxing Day clash with Preston North End.

Much to fans delight, Struijk has been pictured and filmed back in training over the last few weeks. Speaking exclusively to leedsunited.com, the 24 year old said "I'm really excited. I'm just raring to go after such a long time.

"It's always great to get back to it, but for me especially, it's just good to get back playing again.

"At the end of last season, I was getting close but still wasn't ready, so to be able to workout over the summer and be ready for the first day of pre-season was a really good feeling, because you haven't been part of it for a while."

A bit of downtime with the family, batteries fully recharged, Struijk enjoyed him summer, but spoke about how good it is, to be back around his teammates.

"It was lovely, I got to spend time with the family, celebrated my daughter's birthday, I was able to take my mind off football and the injury for a bit, then start to prepare for the next season."

"It's always nice to come back and see the lads, you basically see them every single day over an entire season, so to then not see them always feels a little weird. So it's been good to catch up with them."

Not a stranger to pre-season training, Struijk knows what to expect and just how crucial it is ahead of a new campaign.

"We're always scared of the running, we just want to play football, but pre-season sets the tone for the first game and if everyone puts everything into it, we'll be ready for the next season."