THERE'S something refreshing about the succinct nature of John Eustace's answer when asked if he's managed to put the disappointment of last season behind him.

"No."

It's as simple as that. The Hornets skipper didn't hang around to watch the play-off final, instead opting to get in some much needed R&R in sunnier climbs.

After picking up an injury at the tail end of the season, Eustace was able to recover fully and is now raring to go again.

He said: "It was a long season and we all needed a break, but it gets to the point where you can do too much relaxing, now I can't wait to get back in training.

"I tore my thigh muscle in the home semi-final against Hull, so I was playing in the away leg with a poorly thigh. For me, the end of the season couldn't have come at a better time as I needed the rest.

"I've been in to see Andy Rolls (the club physio) a few times for some treatment and now I'm fully recovered."

The players report back to the London Colney training ground on Monday before flying out to Austria on Thursday, where they will take part in an intensive training camp ahead of the new season.

"I'm looking forward to coming back on Monday and seeing all the lads and then going to Austria on Thursday. I've been there a few times for pre-season with Stoke and it's a really lovely area.

"I've not been away on what is solely a training camp before, so it should be an ideal team bonding time with a lot of hard work taking place."

But Eustace knows that the only way to prepare for what will be a gruelling season will be to rack up those first few wins.

"The only way we'll get last season out of our system is to win games. The fact of the matter is, we lost our last game 4-1 and we need to recover from that. The only way to do that is to hit the ground running."

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