Premier League stars head to Bristol to get the competitive edge

In a next few days time, football players across the region will be starting pre-season training after their summer break.

However for some, taking a few weeks off isn't an option with an increasing number heading to a small gym in Bristol to put in extra work ahead of the new season, with local players rubbing shoulders with Premier League stars.

At Back2Action in Bristol different athletic challenges are designed to give players an extra edge for the new season.

Over the course of four weeks footballers from across the country head to Ashton Court where Rayon Wilson and his team help them prepare.

Rayon said, "Pre-season shouldn't be a time where you are trying to get fit. It should be a time where you are refining the goals your manager or your coaches want to set you for the rest of the season."

"If you are going in and you are working on your fitness, you are compromising the tactical side that your managers want you to work on."

One star who attends the sessions is former Plymouth Argyle and Bristol City winger Yannick Bolasie.

After joining Everton for £25 million last season, he has spent much of this year recovering from a cruciate ligament injury and knows how critical his rehab his.

Another player preparing for pre-season is Rolando Aarons, who's at Newcastle, and although the players might come from different clubs there is very much a team mentality.

For Rayon expectations and the pressure of elite sport means more players know they need to stay ahead of the game.

He said, "We've had feedback, some boys increasing their speed by 10% or 15%. Some boys going from middle or bottom of the group in their fitness tests to the top of the group."

"They believe in it and there is more and more awareness and we are getting new talent coming in, to the point where we now have a criteria, you have to apply to come in, it's pretty good."