Shaun Maloney opens up on Celtic’s gruelling pre-season camp

Shaun Maloney admits Celtic’s demanding pre-season schedule has pushed the squad to its limits, with the club’s younger players facing the biggest challenge during the training camp in Portugal.

The Celtic coaching staff have been putting the squad through a series of intensive double training sessions as they build fitness ahead of the new campaign, with academy graduates and returning loan players joining the senior group.

Maloney acknowledged the workload has taken its toll, particularly on those experiencing a full first-team pre-season for the first time, but believes the demanding programme will prove invaluable in the long run.

He told CelticPlayer: “It’s been hard but good. For the players, I’d imagine it’s been quite difficult. We’ve done a lot of sessions now.

“We’ve got sort of different groups of players. We’ve got some of the more senior first-team players, we’ve got a lot of the B-team boys and a lot of boys that maybe came back to us from loans and things like that.

“I think some of the younger ones have found it really tough but it’s been good. Some of the young players, it’s the first time seeing them up close for a prolonged period, so it’s been good.

“We’ve got a fair few of the young lads here. We’ve done a lot of double sessions, even before we came to Ireland. That’s pretty normal with pre-season. Everyone has got to that point in Portugal where they’re quite fatigued.

“But it’s harder for the young lads. They’ve only had one pre-season in their career, which was last year when they were 16. So they’ve got that step-up in intensity and the level of play.”

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