Brentford Football Club Head of Medical Neil Greig has paid tribute to his team for their work as The Bees won promotion from Sky Bet League One.
And, he is looking forward to an “exciting” future.
The Bees won promotion to the second tier for only the third time in their history last month, breaking a string of records along the way.
At the end of the season Neil spoke to www.brentfordfc.co.uk about the campaign and hailed the medical staff for their contribution.
Neil leads a department that includes First Team Physiotherapist Daryl Martin, Doctors Matt Stride and Siva Mani-Babu, Conditioning Coaches Tom Perryman and James Purdue, Head of Academy Medical Richard Clark – who has been supporting the First Team, and Masseur Chris Domoney.
He said they made his job, to make as many players available for action in the best condition possible as often as possible, easy with their commitment and expertise.
Neil added that everyone at the Club, from Manager Mark Warburton down, trusted the medical staff to do the best for the players.
“We have really good people doing really good jobs,” said Neil.
“My job is made easy because I trust the guys 100 per cent, the management trusts them 100 per cent and, most importantly, the players trust them 100 per cent.
“It really is all about the people we have, pulling in a positive direction.
“Nothing else works without them.
“We have that trust in each other and continually challenge each other to improve.
“Our results speak for themselves.
“UEFA recently published the availability statistics for Champions League teams for the past 11 seasons, which showed that, on average, 20 per cent of a squad will be injured throughout the season.
“Our injury rate for the past three seasons sits at 11 per cent.
“We are doing many things very well, although we can still improve.”
With promotion to the second tier confirmed, Neil has started to look at his department working in The Championship.
He has worked at that level before, when at Watford, and said he believes Brentford is capable of promoting from within.
Below First Team level there are highly-skilled staff working in The Academy.
James Purdue was promoted from the Academy conditioning staff to work with the First Team when former Head of Conditioning Chris Haslam left.
Neil said Richard Clark would be stepping up in 2014/15 and more could follow.
He added there may need to be some work done at Brentford’s Training Ground, in Osterley, to ensure the players had the best conditions possible.
“There is the potential to carry a slightly bigger squad in The Championship,” said Neil.
“With that in mind, space for us to work is key.
“We require a gym that houses around 60 players, taking in to account First Team players, Academy players and those in the Development Squad.
“This is vital, as the work the players do in the gym is all geared to making them better players on the field.
“Everything is specific to their needs and position.
“At the moment we stagger things as space is restricted, it works but it does hinder at times.
“In terms of staffing, more players place a greater demand on the staff.
“My personal feeling is we can promote from within.
“Guys come from Academy to First Team and support medically and with conditioning
“Richard Clark can step up and raise the levels of what we do again.
“He has spent three seasons developing with us under the guidance of good guys like Daryl Martin.”
Life in The Championship will be different to League One.
There are still 46 league games to play but no fixtures are scheduled during international breaks.
The lack of Johnstone’s Paint Trophy matches means there may be fewer games overall, but more midweek fixtures.
Neil said: “You have to be clever in when to do conditioning training.
“Windows of opportunity are fewer.
“You can use international breaks, give guys some time off but also top up the fitness levels in those two weeks.
“There are good opportunities to raise the levels.
“You work in a condensed periods but you lose opportunities with midweek games and have to take those mini blocks as they arise.”
As well as working on a day-to-day basis, Neil is also planning for the future.
Along with many Club staff, Neil has been consulted on aspects for Brentford’s new stadium.
“We met with architects a few months ago for the initial plan,” said Neil.
“Their plan was based on other stadiums around the country.
“We have added our take, what we believe we require to raise levels to The Championship and then to the Premier League.
“Medically we want an international quality stadium; Brentford Football Club will need that moving forward.
“So far everything has been positive, hopefully we will finalise those plans moving forward.
“It is an exciting time.”