TOWN boss Mark Cooper says the squad’s warm-weather excursion was a ‘perfect’ tonic to the conditions they have been used to at their Liddington training base.

With another blank week after Bradford’s progression to the FA Cup fourth round, Swindon jetted out to Tenerife last Thursday for nearly a week of training.

The squad returned on Tuesday ahead of the trip to Bramall Lane this weekend, feeling refreshed and well prepared having been able to enjoy training facilities that are not always on offer at their regular base.

Town are actively looking for a new training home, with their current ground at Liddington always at the mercy of the weather and having been seriously adversely affected of late.

The Town boss seemed very pleased to have got some time away from the PGL facility and his squad have taken full advantage of the favourable conditions.

“The only reason we went was to be able to train properly and in a decent facility,” Cooper told the local media.

“(We were) able to get on a grass pitch twice a day – which we haven’t got the luxury of with the weather and what we’ve got to use in Swindon at the moment.

“We could have gone anywhere but the fact we were able to train twice a day at a brilliant facility in 23 degrees, where we could do loads of work without wondering if people were frozen to the spot, it was a perfect exercise. We got a lot of work done.

“Everything went perfectly, from the travel, the hotel, the food, the facilities, the training. It was outstanding. The proof of that is how we come back and perform and I know we’ll be judged on that.

“It gave them a lift. Everything was light, they were training in T-shirts and shorts, we could take our time and it gave them a chance to refocus and reinforce our beliefs – not that there’s been an awful lot wrong.

“You can really bolt things down and get your basics right in what you want from the team, and it gives us more time to do it, rather than doing it on mud and ice. In that respect, it was perfect.”

The Advertiser was not permitted to attend to this morning's press conference at the County Ground.