TOWN physio Dick Mackey has praised the returning Robins for keeping themselves in trim during the two-month summer break.

Mackey, who has spent most of his summer nursing injured trio Barry Corr, Ady Williams and Andy Caton back to health, says his job is made much easier by the players' continuing commitment to staying in shape.

He said: "The bonus these days is that footballers look after themselves properly, where as 10 or 20 years ago they were not so good at that.

"They all know the rewards of keeping fit and prolonging their careers in the game.

"We produced a pre-season conditioning programme and by the way the players looked at the first training session they appear to have taken that on board.

"It's a tried and tested model which we have part-developed ourselves. The rest we have had to beg, steal and borrow from other people."

Mackey, who has been on the staff at the County Ground for 15 years, has witnessed the evolution of football science and its impact on the professional game.

And though he embraces each new development with open arms, Mackey is at pains to point out preparation has always been taken seriously at Swindon Town.

He said: "A lot of research goes into football now. We've got scientists, exercise co-ordinators and all sorts of people involved.

"Through this science we know that the things we've been doing all along were the right things.

"To be honest, as long as we are sensible about pre-season and have a plan based around flexibility, speed and stamina, you can't go far wrong.

"I can't remember doing any pre-season with Swindon that wasn't structured. We've never just asked the players to come in and run 25 miles."

After a week's holiday sunning himself in Ibiza, Mackey returned to the County Ground to cast his eye, and healing hands, over Town's injured players.

And with the Tour de France now in full swing, Mackey reveals how Corr and Williams have opted for the two-wheeled approach to rehabilitation.

He said: "Ady and Barry have been cycling to the training ground every day. They've bought themselves some snazzy new bikes.

"If I was a supporter I wouldn't be surprised to see them both biking around Swindon on a regular basis.

"Barry had an up and down season last year and that was compounded when he joined us here at Swindon.

"All these lads just have to have a bit of patience to give themselves the best possible chance of recovery."

And though Mackey has been impressed with the work-rate of his patients, he has warned against using any untested models to speed up recovery.

"If the players look after themselves it makes our job that little bit easier," he said.

"They know what to eat and how much to eat. By now that sort of stuff is old hat to them.

"The players are very up on any nutritional developments in the game.

"However, one or two get some silly ideas about supplements that will make run at 120mph, so we need to be careful about those things.

"Overall though I'm very happy with the way the players looked in training.

"We will be stepping up the work-load over the coming weeks, so it will be interesting to see how they respond."