Cautious Neal Ardley won't be pushing his AFC Wimbledon players too hard when they return for pre-season training today.

The Dons begin their preparations for the start of the 2015-16 campaign by reporting back for duty this week.

League Two footballers up and down the land will be shaking in their boots at the thought of double sessions, bleep tests and the like as manager blow the cobwebs off after the end-of-season break.

Ardley reckons a more calculated approach is required based on lessons learnt from his time playing for Wimbledon as a member of the Crazy Gang.

The young manager recalls a number of injuries caused by a big push in pre-season during his playing days and has promised not to give the boys too much too soon.

“The boys are back in the start of next week,” he said.

AFC Wimbledon's 2014-15 season in quotes:

“They are all on different programmes and we've always started six weeks back ahead of the first game.

“We've always started the season well and haven't picked up muscles injuries. So why try and change things?

“People sometimes get the wrong idea about pre-season. You've got a lot of players who have kept themselves ticking over but haven't been able work at the intensity that pre-season demands.

“You've also got people who think they can cram it all in. When you try and cram it in with some players you can overload them and start getting injuries.

“When I was playing for Wimbledon , we'd often have four or five players injured during pre-season and that just hurts your preparations.

“We'll build it slowly and, gradually, the duration and the intensity gets harder and players can start to cope with it.”

Meanwhile, Ardley has rubbished online rumours that George Francomb is being targeted by Swindon Town this summer.

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