Mervyn Day believes that the hard work carried out in the
scorching heat of Austria this past week will provide a huge
benefit to the players as they continue their pre-season
preparations back in England.
Hammers rounded off their trip to mainland Europe with a 2-0 friendly defeat against Lazio on Saturday evening, but the Assistant Manager was satisfied with the team's physical performance.
"It was a tough game," said Mervyn. "We have worked very hard all week in unbelievable heat, and this was another very good test for us.
"Lazio are further advanced than us in their pre-season work and have a Champions League qualifier coming up soon, so it wasn't a surprise to see that they were a bit sharper than us.
"We were a little bit disappointed with the goals that we conceded, but we have changed the team around quite a lot and people aren't yet used to playing with each other, which is understandable.
"Having said that, we created three or four very good chances, and I thought their goalkeeper played exceptionally well. He made three excellent saves in the second half, including the penalty from Craig."
"In terms of what we got out of it, though, the fitness work has been tremendous, and the lads will feel massive benefit from it when they get back to England this week."
Hammers rounded off their trip to mainland Europe with a 2-0 friendly defeat against Lazio on Saturday evening, but the Assistant Manager was satisfied with the team's physical performance.
"It was a tough game," said Mervyn. "We have worked very hard all week in unbelievable heat, and this was another very good test for us.
"Lazio are further advanced than us in their pre-season work and have a Champions League qualifier coming up soon, so it wasn't a surprise to see that they were a bit sharper than us.
"We were a little bit disappointed with the goals that we conceded, but we have changed the team around quite a lot and people aren't yet used to playing with each other, which is understandable.
"Having said that, we created three or four very good chances, and I thought their goalkeeper played exceptionally well. He made three excellent saves in the second half, including the penalty from Craig."
"In terms of what we got out of it, though, the fitness work has been tremendous, and the lads will feel massive benefit from it when they get back to England this week."