Kittrick, who is in talks with three potential new additions this week, told the club`s press officer Ian Richardson: “I’m really looking forward to getting back into it, it’s a new challenge and it’s a really exciting time for me.

“I’m talking to a goalkeeper, central midfielder and a striker and we’ll have a couple of triallists involved with us. We’re not far off, we’ve a couple of positions to sort but we’re now at the point where the silly money stuff’s done.”

Kittrick is happy with how the Gladiators pre-season campaign has been formulated with the opening session taking place on Tuesday and the first game being at home to Burton Albion on Saturday week.

“The games against the League clubs are revenue for the club by getting bums on seats, we’ve got three really good clubs in Burton, Chesterfield and Sheffield United coming here. Some teams have been at it a couple of weeks now, sometimes you can start too early, timing’s a big factor in your preparations. It’s all about being ready and firing on August 17th, it’s five or six weeks before we kick a ball in anger, and we don’t want to pick up any injuries. The players are all fit when they come back now anyway, the drinking culture’s gone, it’s about who’s got the biggest arms and looks the best nowadays. Match practice is the key and I think we’ve got it just about right.”

Results in pre-season are not the be all and end all for Kittrick. “It’s not all about the results, if you can get wins in pre-season then all well and good. Don’t forget it’s a brand-new team virtually at Matlock this season. I’m more bothered about the negatives that can come out of the pre-season, say you’re 3-1 down and how people react. The positive side looks after itself. A Loss isn’t just a loss, it’s a learning curve”.

Ian Richardson