JOE Romanski is under the impression that Swindon Town would be able to reach 70 per cent of their maximum potential if they were to play a competitive fixture this week.

Combine five-and-a-half weeks of training with a handful of fresh signings and time to gel new personalities together in the Spanish sunshine, and Romanski insists manager Richie Wellens has the necessary time to ensure 100 per cent efficiency is reached in time for Town’s visit to Scunthorpe United on Saturday, August 3.

Pre-season started for Wellens’ reasonably new-look squad on Monday morning at Southampton University, before Calne’s Beversbrook Sports Facility hosted Town’s first grass training session yesterday.

Teenage defender Romanski is impressed with the core group of players Wellens has so far assembled over the summer, and is keen to make the most of the preparation time he has ahead of the start of the competitive season.

He said: “Right now, I’d say we’re 70 per cent – and we’ll obviously be building that up to 100 per cent for early August.

“We’ve got a strong core to the team, even though we’ll have to add to some areas of the pitch a bit.

“We’ll complete these few months of fitness and hard work, then we’ll be raring to go come August 3.”

A typical teenager’s three-month university lay-off over the summer is totally alien to Romanski, who used his seven-week break to focus on maintaining high levels of fitness amid two holidays in Europe.

The Reading-born teenager is undoubtedly relishing life as a professional footballer, but he is also aware of the industry’s ‘dog eat dog’ nature that denies any large period of time off for the modern professional.

He explained: “It’s a long season, and it’s important to make the most of the time off to have fun and do the stuff you want to during that free time.

“But, you have to keep in the back of your mind that this is the start of another year – and keeping yourself in shape is important. That’s what I have done, and I’m ready to kick on now.

“Days during pre-season and the season are long, we’re spending a lot of time on the pitch during the season. You don’t get the opportunity to have a chunk of time off – there are always games and things to prepare for.

“Summer is the one period where you can switch off a bit and have time for yourself.”