Robert Green may be enjoying a quieter summer than last year's mountain-climbing endeavours but he is ready to scale more challenges come August.
The England No1 is taking it easier than he did in the summer of 2008, when he took part in a charity climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF).
During his time in Africa, Green visited Tanzania and Kenya, seeing first-hand the work done by AMREF to provide healthcare for some of the countries' most disadvantaged inhabitants.
Following a busy season for club and country and the promise of a hugely busy 2009/10 campaign, the goalkeeper is enjoying a well-earned rest ahead of pre-season training, which starts next week.
"My break has mainly consisted of putting my feet up," Green said. "Hopefully next year with the way we're going there won't be much of a break next summer so we'll take the chances while we can."
The Hammer of the Year runner-up has headed away on holiday in high spirits on the back of two international starts for England. Although not fully tested in the 4-0 win in Kazakhstan and the 6-0 home success against Andorra, he is hoping to retain his place for the friendly trip to Amsterdam to take on the Netherlands on 12 August - three days before West Ham United's Barclays Premier League opener at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
"It's pleasing, it is a reward and I feel that I can do a job at this level. The more I play the confident I'll get and the more I'll become accustomed to it and hopefully more chances will come along."
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