Mark talked to RedTV at The Dons training camp in St. Andrews:

REDTV | to watch the interview in full please click here

“One thing I have noticed during my career is the remarkable change in pre-season. It is night and day compared with what used to happen. The days of running up hills until you collapsed has long gone. Now it is all sports science lead. I would not say it is any easier but it is a lot different.

“We are feeling great. The manager, along with Tony and the sport science team, they know what they are doing now in terms of getting us fit for that first European game after the experiences of the past three years. To be fair they knew what they were doing a few seasons back because they are so switched on.

“However they are always willing to change so the past few years they have just been fine tuning the process and learning how we can make every pre-season better. On Saturday at St Johnstone it was very early for a game yet most of the boys managed to get a good hour under their belts so we are probably ahead of where we were last year. We ae where we want to be at the moment and by next Thursday we will be fully prepared for that first game so we can go into it flying.

“The new players are settling in well. The two Greg’s are both great boys. Greg Stewart is still looking to get his fitness back so he only played 45 minutes in Perth. I know myself from having gone down to England and not played, your fitness goes so quickly. I am sure he is just glad to be back up the road and glad to be involved. We know how good both players are from playing against them. They are both great additions to the squad.

“And Ryan Christie has also come back. I can’t explain how highly I rate Ryan. He is an unbelievable talent and I am delighted to have him back. I am sure this season he will lighten it up as much as he did towards the end of last season.

“Joe Lewis is one of, if not the best keeper in the league. It would not have been a surprise at all if a big team from down south had come in and tried to take him away. So it is great that we have signed him up and it also reflects well on the club and the changing room. It shows that this is still a place people want to be. It is a side that is still going in the right direction and we are moving forward. You saw from the St Johnstone game we still have a strong team and still have options on the bench. And we know the manager is still working hard to get a couple of new faces in.”

“Joe Lewis is one of, if not the best keeper in the league. It would not have been a surprise at all if a big team from down south had come in and tried to take him away. So it is great that we have signed him up and it also reflects well on the club and the changing room. It shows that this is still a place people want to be. It is a side that is still going in the right direction and we are moving forward. You saw from the St Johnstone game we still have a strong team and still have options on the bench. And we know the manager is still working hard to get a couple of new faces in.”