Stoke City boss Mark Robins has said that changes made to how the squad trains are producing "really good signs" as the club works to avoid a repeat of last season's injury problems.
The Potters finished 17th in the Championship last season after sitting in the top six for much of the first half of the campaign. Robins said the high injury toll last year made it clear something had to change.
"On the back of a really disappointing campaign last year, something had to give, so we just looked at a lot of other things," Robins told BBC Radio Stoke. "We've changed the way we train because of last year."
Robins declined to specify what changes have been made to the preparation regime but stressed the club had to act differently.
"I'm not going into that but you can't keep doing the same things can you?" he said. "We've still got a long way to go, even though we've only got a couple of weeks until the first game."
Off-field restructure
The club has made several changes to its backroom team. Damian Roden has been reappointed as head of medical and performance. Former Stoke players Erik Pieters and Danny Pugh have also taken coaching roles in the academy under new director Jack Higgins.
Robins said he "really liked" the new support teams. He highlighted the importance of coordination between different departments in the run-up to the new season.
"You've got a synergy that you have to have for things to function properly. So there are a lot of conversations, meetings in the morning and plan for the day, meetings at the end of the day to make sure you're ready for the next day," he said. "It's been good so far and will get better over time."
