GABBY AGBONLAHOR: I dreaded traumatic pre-season training, I saw one player vomit – I’d ban it

As Premier League players return for pre-season training, talkSPORT host Gabby Agbonlahor has bleep test flashbacks. Here, he relives some horror sessions...

“Pre-season was traumatic. I dreaded it because I knew I was coming back and it would be just running, blisters and more running.

«You’d run in the morning session then have lunch. The older you get; you stiffen up and then you start at 2pm and run again. When you’ve stiffened up in recovery mode, you’ve got to run again. Your body is just in pain.

“I dreaded pre-season, honestly. We were like marathon runners by the end. I hated it – hated it.

»Remember the Tottenham players last summer? They looked like they were going to have heart attacks during their pre-season training in Asia. The running didn't work for them anyway!

«You go away and sometimes the conditions are so hot and very dangerous. I remember Hong Kong and it was so hot and humid. It was dangerous. You had to change your top every 20 minutes because it was soaking. You were losing a lot of water.

“One person was sick. Ross McCormack threw up on Nathan Baker. He was sick on him while running.

»It's not all bad. The best one I can remember was when we went to Marbella with Martin O'Neill — I think it was more for the coaching staff to be close to the perfect golf course!

“We did one session in the morning and then we went to Ocean Beach Club for lunch and we had a little bit of a boogie and then had an afternoon session.

“That would never happen now – players go into the mountains of Austria and Germany – just out of the way where there’s no distractions. Places like that can feel like prison.

“In Hong Kong, the manager told us we couldn't go out. We had security by the lift in the hotel and we were like ‘come