Forget missing out on promotion, possible takeovers and boardroom splits.

Within two minutes of watching Saints start their pre-season training in Norway, one thing is clear - the spirit in the squad could hardly be better.

This is where the real nuts and bolts work for the season ahead takes place.

The trip to Scandinavia is a chance for the players and management to work hard, play some friendlies and bond as a unit. They are free from the stresses and strains of being at home, and the attention that goes with it.

As Saints trained yesterday on the green grass of Larvik - the small town where they are based for the first two nights of the trip - there were only a handful of interested locals watching.

The media presence was down to four - two from the club and two from the Echo - and everybody was relaxed, happy and enjoying training in the sun.

The sessions started with a pulse raiser before some ballwork, the players practising high tempo long range passing under the watchful eye of George Burley, always quick to shout out encouragement.

After that, John Gorman took over. He may be the chief scout but hasn't lost his touch in the coaching department.

Having laid out an intricate box made of cones and a zig-zag shaped section through the middle, he divided the players into three teams of six - injuries have meant there are just 19 players in Norway, 18 outfield players plus Michael Poke.

The idea of the game was for the team of six on one side to be given the ball and keep it for a set number of passes in their part of the box.

There was a team stood opposite in the other half with the third team resting in the middle. However, two of the resting team were allowed to charge out and try and close down and intercept the ball and, if that happened, the passing team lost.

If the passing team did lose the ball, they went in the middle; if they won, they passed the ball over to the other side to have a go.

Gorman was enthusiastic but fair, praising when required, pointing out when things should be done better.

But the thing that stood out from the sidelines was how much the players were enjoying themselves.

In fact, so much so after the session finished about half of them stayed behind to practise further.

Darren Powell went in goal with spectacular consequences as his teammates lined up to fire balls at him.

There was also an excited game of two touch keepy-up' arranged by Mario Licka, Rudi Skacel and Grzegorz Rasiak.

There was a hard work ethic but a terrific team spirit, some of the best in the five tours I've been on.

It was certainly different to last pre-season in Sweden. Then the team were happy but you could tell they had only just been thrust together as a squad and hadn't had time to gel.

Most of this group have been together for over a year ... and it shows.

When you see these training sessions like these and the games that inevitably follow, it's not hard to work out why Burley wanted to bring his team here.

"Scandinavia is, I feel, ideal for pre-season," explained the Saints boss.

"We've done the hard work as far as fitness levels goes and now it's time to get some games.

"We had a game against Eastleigh on Saturday and now we have two games coming up in quick succession.

"We'll be pushing on to get the players' touch right and the players' fitness right and looking forward from there.

"When you've got three games in five days you need to utilise your squad, and we will do that."

Keep up-to-date with Saints on tour in Norway every day this week with our reporter Adam Leitch and photographer Chris Moorhouse - only in the Daily Echo.