Gordon Strachan has outlined his plans to have his Saints players feeling fit for the new season - and it means just four weeks off for his FA Cup heroes.

After the success of last summer's exercise regime which saw Strachan's side become one of the fittest teams in the Premiership, the Saints boss is aiming to emulate that achievement through more hard work.

There is a seven-week gap between the FA Cup Final and the start of pre-season training but the Saints squad will only be allowed to take four of those weeks as holiday - spending three days of the other three weeks running in the New Forest.

Strachan, pictured right, said: "I always believe you should have a month off to recharge the batteries.

"Even when our international players return from duty I will insist they take a four-week break.

"But long gone are the days when the season finished and everyone drifted away for a break of 10 weeks or so.

Players these days are very well paid, and are expected to work, even for part of the summer.

"Whenever you watch Real Madrid playing, Roberto Carlos is always there, no matter how many games he has already played.

It is the same with players like Zinadine Zidane and Luis Figo.

They never seem to rest for that long because they have the mentality to play all year round.

"In any case, a lot of players get a natural break sometime during the season either when they get injured or suspended, so there is no reason why they should not do a bit extra in the closed season."

But, despite the extra hard work for the squad, the Saints boss insists he is not cracking the whip just for the sake of it.

He points out: "I do not mind how the lads spread the work load as long as they carry out what has been asked of them.

"If people were to have seven weeks off, just doing nothing, and then try to get straight into hard work, they are not going to be able to handle it.

"I am trying to protect my players from soft tissue injuries.

I adopted a similar training schedule last season, and it was brilliant for us because we did not have any major muscle tears or injuries until Wayne Bridge had a problem well into the campaign."

Once the team report back, they will go to Scotland for physical training for a week.

They start their pre-season friendlies in Sweden at the end of July ahead of the big Premiership kick-off on August 16.

The 2003/04 fixtures will be published on June 19.