Luke Ayling returned to pre-season training last week, preparing for Wednesday night’s match against Manchester United in Norway.

The defender is looking forward to a hard working pre-season under new first team manager Daniel Farke and he is pleased to be back out there on the pitch. 

Having now spent some with the new manager and coaching staff, the full-back gave his thoughts on the first few days. 

Ayling said: “It’s great to be back after last season, it took time for everyone to get over what happened, but now we’re ready to go. 

“We’ve come back in now and we are working hard to have a good season ahead of us, we hope. 

“The first week of pre-season was good, we worked really hard. There has been a lot of running and football, so it has been tough, but good to be out there. 

“The new gaffer has come in and we all know what style of football he plays, we’ve faced him a few times before and his teams have beaten us before whilst playing good football. 

“The boys are excited to pick his style up, it’s a short pre-season so we will need to learn quickly. Hopefully we can do that, because it’s vital we get off to a good start this season."

First up in the pre-season schedule for Ayling’s side is a tough test against rivals Manchester United, at the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo. The defender explained that everyone is looking forward to being back out on the pitch. 

“Friendly matches are always good,” he explained. 

“You work really hard over the start of pre-season and then you can’t wait to get out there and play your first game. 

“We’re all looking forward to some good friendlies, we’ve got some tough tests and good teams.

“Ultimately it is about us though, going out and getting fitness whilst also putting the manager’s ideas onto the pitch after working on it in training.”