The dog walker looked genuinely concerned as she made a beeline for Nicky Law.

"Are the players going to be coming back up the path?" she inquired while patting her pet. "Only she likes to join in and chase anyone she sees running."

That might have made for some quicker times as Bradford City's squad blew away the cobwebs on the first day of pre-season training.

Sunny days stretched out by the pool - and Andy Tod had flown back from Mexico only the night before - had been replaced by Northcliff playing fields in Shipley on an overcast Monday morning.

Players shuttled up and down the hill in groups of six or eight under the unforgiving eye of Law and his stopwatch. He had a son there to help, ticking off the times for the runs he had been testing with his old man in the past fortnight.

It was a scene that will be replicated all over the country this week. The World Cup is over and now it is time to clamber back on the domestic bandwagon for another ten months.

Only City aren't like other clubs at the moment. Nowhere else will you find 13 players taking part who were sacked by the same employers five weeks ago.

Passers-by would not have known there was anything wrong as they watched the gruelling first training session. The banter among the runners was no different, the dressing-room humour still evident among the grunts and groans.

But there were giveaway signs like the tracksuit top Law junior was wearing. On it were the initials "SS" for Steve Smith, the former youth-team coach who was one of the first casualties when the administrators moved in.

All but three of the players laid off that same fateful May day had reported for duty. Of the three exceptions - Benito Carbone, Jamie Lawrence and Aidan Davison - the fit-again Davison was due back today from a goalkeeping coaching course.

Law deliberately steered clear of reopening old wounds.

He said: "I could have reiterated what's happened but we all know what has gone on. It's best to be forgotten and we all let it go.

"The mood is good and the players are in good spirits. The training is probably harder than they anticipated but that's the way it's got to be.

"Gone are the days of coming in having a jog and a stretch for 20 minutes. You have to be fitter and stronger than ever now."

As the players tried to catch their breath, David Wetherall grimaced: "We'd better be getting paid for this."

Just as well the union are picking up the tab while City are still in administration. Contracts cannot be reinstated until this financial crisis is over so Law could be training some of these players simply to get them fit for someone else. "There are going to be the odd two or three who may get fixed up elsewhere," he said. "But I think most will still be here and we'll all be putting in plenty of hard work for an assault on the First Division come August 10."

There will be no let-up in the schedule. Today the players were at Apperley Bridge for six 800m runs and there are more lung-busting efforts planned for Peel Park at the end of the week.

Law smiled: "Some runs are much harder than others. We've got five different venues this week so you can't get too familiar and know the areas where you can save a bit of energy.

"I ran the first one, got about half a mile and my ankle went! The players will find it a tough week."