Conor Hourihane says Barnsley FC's summer is 'too long' as he looks to speed up changes

Had the Reds' season gone as planned, it could have extended into the League One play-off final at the end of May but the game at Reading on May 4 was their last competitive match until the new campaign begins on the first weekend in August.

Pre-season will training will resume in late June, but Hourihane wants to see players face-to-face for testing before them.

"I've made the players aware the break after Reading until we get back for pre-season is too long so there's going to be some check-in days over the summer, which is important in terms of fitness," said Hourihane, for whom his first pre-season as a head coach will be an important one

"I want to have a bit of contact time over the summer.

"It's really important that, yes, the lads get some off-time but this summer break is probably a bit long for what I want to implement.

"There'll be some days over the summer that players need to come in and some running and testing so that the day we come back is not the first time I've seen them."

Former Republic of Ireland midfielder Hourihane was promoted to interim head coach for the final 10 games of the campaign after the sacking of Darrell Clarke.

He was given the job permanently on April 18 after impressing more with his work ethic and culture building than results – he won just two of 10 games overall last term. Only then did he feel able to prepare for the coming campaign.

"There weren't any conversations happening really until everybody had clarity on their role," he revealed. "As soon as I got it full-time it was let's get down to business, let the conversations start. I was big on making the most of the time before the end of the season."

The start of next season is staggered this year, with Leagues One and Two beginning the week before the Championship, itself a week before the Premier League.

Barnsley announced their retained list this week, and could need to make coaching changes, with Jon Stead expected to follow Clarke, who has returned to old club Bristol Rovers as manager.