Brentford’s First Team squad have travelled to Spain for a winter training camp during the Premier League’s break for the World Cup. As ever, Peter Gilham is documenting his time away with the staff and players.

On our first morning in Girona, we woke up to a mix of blue sky and light clouds.

The temperature was a cool seven degrees, but we were heartened by the fact that it would rise to around 15 degrees with sunny intervals.

The only people working (apart from our hotel staff) were our players and staff; yesterday was Constitution Day in Spain, a bank holiday that marks the anniversary of a referendum held in 1978 when a new constitution was approved, which was an important step in the country’s transition to becoming a constitutional monarchy and democracy.

The timing of this bank holiday for the Spanish was opportune as their national side, including our very own David Raya, took on Morocco in a World Cup round of 16 tie later in the evening.

I started the day with a nice bowl of cornflakes and hot milk. Not the normal mix I accept, but I inadvertently poured from the jug marked semi skimmed next to the coffee machine, as opposed to the jug marked semi skimmed next to the cornflakes. Schoolboy error or maybe just senility from a septuagenarian!

After breakfast, there were a couple of meetings for staff and players, plus the daily medical preparation. Then it was time to head off for the morning’s training session. In a similar fashion to our pre-season training camp in Germany, bikes and golf buggies were on hand to transport everyone to the pitches.

The pitches form part of the training complex of Girona FC, who currently sit 13th in LaLiga.

Prior to the start of training at 11am, there was a gym session to get everyone, well the players at least, in fine fettle for the exertions ahead. Then it was out on to the pitch for the outfield players; the goalkeepers with Manu Sotelo having started their training routines some minutes earlier.

Chris Haslam, our head of athletic performance, led the bulk of the players through the loosening up routines while Thomas Frank and his fellow coaches prepared for the drills that followed.

It was hard going for 90 minutes (albeit not for me on this occasion) with any number of routines encompassing all aspects of open play. Then at just past 12.30pm it was time for all and sundry to make their way back to the hotel for lunch.

After lunch, at 3.30pm to be precise, the players were spilt into two groups, the first of which had a gym session lasting approximately 45 minutes before more individual meetings. Meanwhile the other group performed the same itinerary but in reverse.

I’ll be honest, I sat out the afternoon sessions as I wanted to watch ‘the Red Fury’ as the Spanish national team are known, fervently (albeit unsportingly) hoping that an unexpected occurrence would beset Unai Simón in the Spanish goal thus allowing our own David Raya (and Linda my wife’s favourite Bee) to experience playing in the World Cup.

As it happened, an unexpected occurrence did beset Simon (more than once), which led to Spain, and David’s exit from the competition.

I’m sure, like every Bees fan, we’ll be pleased to see David return to us unscathed physically, but again like all of us I really feel for him not getting the chance to show his undoubted quality on the world’s greatest stage. I’m sure he’ll remind the Spanish selectors what they were missing when he returns to Premier League action on Boxing Day, and as Bees fans we’ll give him and all of our World Cup internationals the welcome back they thoroughly deserve.

After watching the nightmare of any football fan, the dreaded penalty shootout, it was time for the players to engage in some team bonding. Split into four teams, they had four challenges to overcome. A skills challenge, Pictionary, a World Cup trivia quiz against the clock and a ‘what happened next round’. It was a tight competition, but club captain Pontus Jansson led his team to a narrow victory.

All that was left was dinner followed by the opportunity, for those who so wished, to watch Portugal’s successful progression to the quarter-final stage.