FLEXIBILITY

Ensure you do a good warm-up – some light jogging, followed by some dynamic flexibility exercises like leg swings, hip rotations, high knees, butt kickers and spiderman stretches. This will get the muscles and joints nicely loosened up.

WORK ON YOUR WEAKNESS

Weaker muscles have a higher risk of injury. A common footballing injury is hamstring tears. Make sure you train the whole body, with extra focus on your weaker parts.

KEEP UP THE INTENSITY

Keeping up the pace for 90 minutes can be hard if your aerobic fitness is poor. Most people make the mistake of long distance running when actually short distance sprints is what happens on the pitch. Your training should mimic this. Try some high-intensity training – short sharp bursts. To be more agile, able to change direction easily, don’t forget to mix in some multi-directional and reaction drills, too.

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