WORCESTER City begin their pre-season training programme on Tuesday - and there won't be a football in sight!

John Barton's new-look squad will spend their first two sessions building up their general fitness on the Malvern Hills rather than sharpening up their ball skills.

Not until next Saturday's third session will they begin work on footballing matters, in readiness for the opening friendly against Graham Allner's Cheltenham Town side on July 20.

City manager Barton believes this is the best way of easing the players back to life after the summer break.

He said: "One thing we are blessed with in Worcester is picturesque local countryside, so we use that to our advantage.

"To establish some base level of fitness and get breathing patterns back in line is important.

"There will be a couple of sessions up on the hills and then it will be back down to the ball work and a gradual progression from then on in."

City will begin with three sessions a week, but Barton is confident the players will have kept themselves in shape since the end of last season.

He said: "It is important that the fitness they maintain during the season doesn't all disappear, so some sort of work needs to be done during the summer break, and I know it has been done by nearly all the players.

"Even during the season when we meet two or three times a week, if they feel they need to do some extra work in addition to that, they will do it."

Tuesday's session will be the first chance for summer signings John Snape, David Foy and Pat Lyons to meet their new team-mates, while several trialists will also be in attendance.

Barton added: "There are a few people will be looking at over this period, and we have a couple of fixtures we can use for those players."

City open their Dr Martens League Premier Division campaign at home to newly-promoted Hastings United on Saturday, August 17 - and Barton believes the Eastern Division champions will be dangerous opponents.

He said: "First games of the season are always tough because everybody should be ready to come out of the traps, and promoted sides tend to want to prove early on that they are worthy of their new-found status."

City stage their annual meeting at St George's Lane tomorrow, starting at 11.30am.