SWINDON Town's squad will head to Portugal for a five-day training camp next week, it was confirmed today.

The Advertiser revealed last week that David Flitcroft was hoping to line up a trip to the Iberian peninsula, including a couple of competitive matches, with the club confirming today that staff and players would jet out on Tuesday, July 18.

Flitcroft told the club's website: "I’m delighted that we have been able to arrange this pre-season camp and it will form a vital part of our preparation for the new season.

“We will be working incredibly hard whilst we are out there and it is an ideal chance for me and my staff to get our ideas across to the players in a real intense setting.

“The foundation to our pre-season so far has been to change and shift a losing mentality, something which we have worked so hard on over the last few weeks.

“Preparing the team for a coming season in a warm weather camp means you have full control of the sessions and it allows you to get three training sessions in a day.

“This will be vital in terms of working on our tactical strategies for the coming season.

“We will have 24 hours’ control which will allow us to collect physical data, fuel consumption, rehydration and sleep patterns of the players.

“I would like to thank both the chairman and the chief executive for their hard work in getting this trip organised, and I can’t stress how important it will be in terms of getting ready for the new season."

“Preparing the team for a coming season in a warm weather camp means you have full control of the sessions and it allows you to get three training sessions in a day. This will be vital in terms of working on our tactical strategies for the coming season."

Assistant boss Ben Futcher added: “Getting away together is massive, especially when you’ve brought in the amount of new players we have.

“We’ve rebuilt the squad and it is a massive task to get them to gel quickly. We’re still trying to bring players in so that time together will be huge.

“You are guaranteed the weather and you are guaranteed the pitches out there, so we know we can get two or three sessions in a day.

“It is massive on both counts because we can get a lot of tactical work into the players and we can get a lot of leg work into the players and it will bring everyone together.

“It is really important for us.”