Essendon Coach James Hird has urged his players to maintain their high level of intensity and hard work at training for the remainder of the pre-season.

But Hird stressed he hadn’t put any expectations on the players for the upcoming season, other than challenging them to improve and develop as a group.

""We are about improvement and we're not putting any limitations or any expectations on where we'll finish,"" Hird said.

""We need to improve. Already we've improved as a group in terms of our physical capabilities, now we'd like to see that in our football as well.,"" he said.
 
 

The players completed five days of fitness testing following the Christmas break and returned to skills training this morning.

“We haven’t had any competitive games yet but we are happy with the fitness level they are at. They’ve worked hard and they have really embraced all the training.”
 
 
Hird said modern technology and an emphasis on player conditioning and preparation had changed pre-season trianing significantly since his playing days.
 
“This pre-season has been a lot smarter and scientific in the approach,” Hird said.
 

""There's no doubt the game has moved on in the three years that I haven't been involved in it.

""I'm just trying to pick up on what's going on. With some pretty experienced coaches around, that adaption is a lot easier,"" He said

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