DAMIEN'S INJURY UPDATE
Posted on: Sun 06 Jul 2008
By Matt Cecil
Wanderers' Head of Medical and Sports Science Damien Doyle revealed to wwfc.com this week that he's pleased with the progress of the trio of injured players as they continue their rehabilitation, and added that he's enjoying life at Adams Park following his move to the club in the summer.
World: Damien's debut
The Irishman's job title might be a bit of a mouthful but essentially Damien oversees the whole health and fitness operation, ranging from nutrition and diets to exercise and recovery, and works closely alongside sports therapist Shay Connelly and the team of coaches to ensure the best possible programme for the players.
And as well as working the Blues stars hard in their first week of pre-season training, the 29-year-old has been helping Sergio Torres, Derek Duncan and Matt Bloomfield work their way back to fitness after their injuries:
"Sergio's been really good every day and I don't think he realised how much he'd be able to do so he's surprised himself how rapidly he's been able to progress," he said.
"Derek Duncan's been out training with us on Friday and joined in with most of the session, and we keep adding little things for him to do so he should be back in full training next week. Matt Bloomfield's obviously had a really serious injury but he's progressing nicely and we've changed a few things around to try and speed it up but making sure that it's done in a safe way.
"The three of them have been brilliant. They've got the same fitness programme as the lads who are training outside and they've got to reach the same targets but obviously they've got to do it in a different way."
Meanwhile, the former Barnet, Brentford, MK Dons and Leicester man has been thoroughly impressed with both the facilities available to the Wanderers and the levels of dedication that the players have shown on their return to training:
"It's gone really well," he enthused. "My last club was in the Championship and I'd say the training ground we've got here is as good as it was there so there's not much more we could ask for.
"All the lads have worked really hard and done a lot through the summer to keep themselves fit. Their fitness levels were a lot better than we expected them to be and their attitude's been spot on so we're really happy with that."
The highly-qualified coach, once described by Martin Allen as having "more letters after his name than the alphabet", brings a wealth of knowledge to the Adams Park club, and he believes the new management team can help the Blues sustain high levels of fitness throughout the whole campaign:
"I've spent a number of years writing a fitness programme and spent four or five seasons looking at Prozone stats from the Premier League and Championship to see what's expected of players and put together a programme based on that.
"We don't want to be top of the fitness charts at the start of the season and then by the time Christmas comes about we're at the bottom. We're going to try and be consistent all the way through the season so when other teams are dying away, we're still going strong."
Judging by the players' highly positive reaction to the new meticulous and professional methods of the Irishman, which includes different energy drinks for various stages of exercise as well as detailed dietary requirements, Damien and fellow coach Junior Lewis have already proved to be a hit with the Blues' stars and the team should be in a strong position to begin the 2008/09 campaign.
Buy your Season Ticket now for the 2008/09 season - Under 10's are FREE! Click here for more information.
Wanderers' Head of Medical and Sports Science Damien Doyle revealed to wwfc.com this week that he's pleased with the progress of the trio of injured players as they continue their rehabilitation, and added that he's enjoying life at Adams Park following his move to the club in the summer.
World: Damien's debutThe Irishman's job title might be a bit of a mouthful but essentially Damien oversees the whole health and fitness operation, ranging from nutrition and diets to exercise and recovery, and works closely alongside sports therapist Shay Connelly and the team of coaches to ensure the best possible programme for the players.
And as well as working the Blues stars hard in their first week of pre-season training, the 29-year-old has been helping Sergio Torres, Derek Duncan and Matt Bloomfield work their way back to fitness after their injuries:
"Sergio's been really good every day and I don't think he realised how much he'd be able to do so he's surprised himself how rapidly he's been able to progress," he said.
"Derek Duncan's been out training with us on Friday and joined in with most of the session, and we keep adding little things for him to do so he should be back in full training next week. Matt Bloomfield's obviously had a really serious injury but he's progressing nicely and we've changed a few things around to try and speed it up but making sure that it's done in a safe way.
"The three of them have been brilliant. They've got the same fitness programme as the lads who are training outside and they've got to reach the same targets but obviously they've got to do it in a different way."
Meanwhile, the former Barnet, Brentford, MK Dons and Leicester man has been thoroughly impressed with both the facilities available to the Wanderers and the levels of dedication that the players have shown on their return to training:
"It's gone really well," he enthused. "My last club was in the Championship and I'd say the training ground we've got here is as good as it was there so there's not much more we could ask for.
"All the lads have worked really hard and done a lot through the summer to keep themselves fit. Their fitness levels were a lot better than we expected them to be and their attitude's been spot on so we're really happy with that."
The highly-qualified coach, once described by Martin Allen as having "more letters after his name than the alphabet", brings a wealth of knowledge to the Adams Park club, and he believes the new management team can help the Blues sustain high levels of fitness throughout the whole campaign:
"I've spent a number of years writing a fitness programme and spent four or five seasons looking at Prozone stats from the Premier League and Championship to see what's expected of players and put together a programme based on that.
"We don't want to be top of the fitness charts at the start of the season and then by the time Christmas comes about we're at the bottom. We're going to try and be consistent all the way through the season so when other teams are dying away, we're still going strong."
Judging by the players' highly positive reaction to the new meticulous and professional methods of the Irishman, which includes different energy drinks for various stages of exercise as well as detailed dietary requirements, Damien and fellow coach Junior Lewis have already proved to be a hit with the Blues' stars and the team should be in a strong position to begin the 2008/09 campaign.
Buy your Season Ticket now for the 2008/09 season - Under 10's are FREE! Click here for more information.
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