It might sound an obvious joy for a footballer but new Blues striker Ellis Harrison has been pleased to get a ball at his feet during the early stages of pre-season training.

The former Ipswich and Bristol Rovers forward told the club website: 'It’s been a tough start to training, but I’ve been at other clubs where it’s just pure running to start things off. But we’ve been doing work with footballs already here and I actually think you get a lot more out of that.

'Of course we’ve done some running — and that’s needed — but when we’re out there on Saturday, we’re doing it with a ball at our feet. We all need to build our fitness and that’s going to happen over the next few weeks as we work towards the new campaign.

'That’s why pre-season is so important — because you want to feel good when you’re entering the pitch.'

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