Antony Sweeney has revealed that the work Pools have been doing in pre season is paying dividends in terms of the overall fitness of the squad.

The midfielder was an influential figure during Monday's opening pre season friendly against FC Volendam and admitted he feels in good shape ahead of the new season.

"I think the running I've done so far in pre season has set me up well because I felt strong in the game on Monday night," he told us.

"We've worked hard since coming back in to training and hopefully we can continue to get stronger as the games come around.

"They say that in pre season results don't matter but any player who crosses the white line want to go on to the pitch and win the game.

"We wanted to win on Monday but unfortunately we didn't - however there were plenty of positives with a lot of the lads getting minutes under their belts.

"It was a good fitness exercise for us because I'm not sure how many teams are going to pass the ball like Volendam did."

Sweeney was on target with a stunning goal against the Dutch outfit in Heiloo, although he revealed he's been getting a bit of stick from his team-mates about it.

"I was pleased with my goal on Monday - it was a lovely ball by Ritchie Jones to find me," he commented.

"I took a decent first touch and then managed to sidestep the defender - I threw the left foot at it and it's gone in!

"A few of the lads have been saying that somebody pressed my head and my left foot came out because it's not often I score with the left!"