Cycle nut Ben Foster uses experience in Austria

Because the 33-year-old has had several knee injuries throughout his career, including a cruciate ligament problem that left him sidelined for 10 months last year, he is cycling up the steep hills of Irdning rather than running up them.

And that was music to the ears of Foster, who took part in the London to Paris ride last summer for charity and regards cycling as one of his main hobbies.

"It's really helped me because what we do out here is really tough," said Foster.

"We all have our heart rate monitors on and I'd imagine it might have been slightly easier on mine than some of the others just because I'm used to it."

Foster took up cycling when he entered his 30s for a number of reasons. Now he can't get enough of it.

"I started cycling properly about two or three years ago," he explained.

"Ever since I started playing football I've been keen on cycling because of my knees.

"I've had a couple of knee injuries and you need to be able to train without putting too much pressure on them so biking was always a good way of doing that.

"I love it, it's a good way to get out the house when the kids are running crazy, so I quite often go out and do a couple of hours on the bike.

"It helps you clear your head and it's great exercise too.

"I did the London to Paris ride for Cure Leukaemia last year and that was a great experience.

"I went away with my mates this summer to Mallorca for five days and we hit the road quite hard out there.

"We did some of the big old climbs on the famous mountains which was really good.

"Now we're into pre-season training it has held me in good stead because that's what me and a few of the other boys are doing instead of running."

Foster returned from his 10-month lay-off in January and played out the remainder of the season, but at the end of the campaign he admitted his knee was still not 100%.

He's been given special dispensation by drill-sergeant Tony Pulis to cycle up the hills of Austria alongside Chris Brunt, who's also returning from a knee problem, and fellow 33-year-old's Boaz Myhill and Jonas Olsson.

But it's every bit as taxing as the running. The foursome may have been given bikes to protect their joints, but Pulis is still working them as hard as the others.

"Don't get me wrong it doesn't give me a huge advantage, we all need to be fit, it's part and parcel of being a footballer," said Foster.

"To do that you have to work very hard in pre-season.

"It's not too much about football at the moment, it's more about getting our fitness right, but I'm sure the boys will be looking forward to the afternoon sessions when we play.

"Not far from our hotel in Austria we have a very steep hill that we climb.

"It's three to four minutes at a good pace to get up it and we're all at 95 per cent of our maximum heart-rate.

"It's a good test of your threshold and your anaerobic heartrate.

"It's really tough but it's a great session for us all to get fit.

"The lads look very good too, and we've all come back in good shape considering it's early days."