Why Doncaster Rovers' new goalkeeper is more ready for the start of the season than most
He may have only been in through the door for a few days but new signing Josef Bursik will arguably be the Doncaster Rovers player most ready for the start of the season.
The 20-year-old signed a season-long loan deal on Thursday from parent club Stoke City.
And while his loan spell at Accrington Stanley last season was halted by the pandemic, he was involved with the Potters before and during the Championship restart in June and July.
Having also returned for pre-season with Stoke prior to his switch to the Keepmoat, the goalkeeper has been much more active in football-specific terms than his new team mates.
“I came back with Stoke for the Championship restart,” he told the Free Press.
“We went through all the procedures that you have to go through and working in small groups so I was just training with the keepers at first and then we progressed to the team stuff.
“We had about four weeks before the first game and then it was ten games in a short space of time.
“I probably had about ten days off and then we were back in for pre-season training for this season.
“I don’t feel like I’ve lost a lot of fitness and I still feel sharp.
“It was good to keep training because I’d still had three or so months off which was hard to manage but I got through it in the end.”
Bursik was thrown straight into action for Rovers as he played the first 45 minutes of Saturday’s friendly with Derby County which finished goalless.