Kevin Foley may still have two potential assignments to consider before finally being able to switch off this summer having been named in the Republic of Ireland squad for Friday's friendly with Nigeria and possibly the World Cup qualifier in Bulgaria to follow.

But whether or not he picks up his first senior cap over the next fortnight, Wolves' Player of the Year knows there will still be work to be done over the break to maintain a base level of fitness ahead of the return for pre-season.

Like all members of the squad, Kevin has been handed a fitness programme to follow whilst away from Compton to ensure that it's not a case of starting from scratch when returning to step up preparations for the Premier League at the end of June.

"When you start the programme it's just a case of ticking over because you do need rest as well," says the defender.

"It's not a case of overdoing it but as pre-season gets nearer you step up a few things so that by the time you get in you're not starting from scratch.

"It's all changed now in pre-season and you don't see any players wearing bin bags and woolly hats to get a good sweat on!

"Now with the technology we have and someone like Tony as our fitness coaches there are no excuses not to get things done properly."

The fitness levels and sharpness of the team at the start of last season was a factor noted by opposition managers and neutral observers alike, not least as Wolves laid down such an impressive marker in August and September.

With such a step up in quality ahead this time around, Kevin knows that once again hitting those same fitness levels is paramount.

"The work we do during pre-season is very important," he adds.

"Dales set us up with a programme and the boys stuck by it and came back fitter and stronger than they did the year before.

"It helped us greatly during the season and I'm sure we'll be looking for the same again because it's been tried and tested and it worked.

"Hopefully we can use it to get a good fitness start so we're raring to go at the start of the season.

"We know we're taking a step up in quality and so fitness is going to be crucial.

"There will be long periods of games where we won't have the ball and we'll have to be on our toes and ready for when we do get the ball.

"We proved last year we are a fit team and have got to get on that again this season and be even better."