With preparations for the new campaign gaining momentum, Ray Wilkins reports a happy camp at Cobham.

Carlo Ancelotti's assistant is enjoying a pre-season that has already seen us play two friendlies before the return of our World Cup internationals, and with them back on board this week we now have a full complement of first-teamers at the training ground.

This weekend we head to Germany for a further two fixtures, against Eintracht Frankfurt and Hamburg, before the Community Shield Wembley against Manchester United on August 8.

'Things are going great, the lads have come back in reasonably good condition and that's the modern day professional, they work extremely hard to keep themselves in good shape,' Wilkins explained. 'It's far easier to retain fitness than it is to regain it, so the lads have taken that on board and they look very good indeed.

'It is good to have the whole group back together, it has been rather patchy over the first couple of weeks but the first boys that came in worked so hard and the younger boys did well, and now it's good to have the senior boys back.

'Them having the World Cup makes it a tad harder on the physical aspect, we can't do some of the work with the lads that are just back because it is too physical for them, but our aim is to get everybody ready for that first league game of the season. If we can do that then we'll have achieved our goal.'

Following last season's success, there is a settled atmosphere among the group, something that hasn't escaped Wilkins's attentions.

'Cobham is a pleasant place to be at the moment,' he said. 'Last season was one of extreme highs and we can hope that we can hope to achieve the same highs this season.

'Obviously the Champions League is something we would dearly like to win, but if we come away with the same as last year we'd be delighted.'

Before attentions again turn to silverware though, we head to central Germany for a mini training camp, and the former midfielder is hoping we can bring some positives home for when the competitive action gets going.

'In Germany I think we can gain a bit of togetherness as a group again,' he explained. 'We had a wonderful time in America last year and Germany will give us a bit of that, and we have two tough games as well, but the lads need to play and we are looking forward to it.'