Karl Robinson applauded his players, following the conclusion of their final training session in Ireland on Friday afternoon.
After a week of intense coaching, he gathered his squad and backroom staff in a circle and addressed them as a group before thanking them for their efforts.
Charlton’s players faced three sessions almost every day – beginning at 7am and concluding after 7pm - with many of the squad citing the week as one of the toughest they have ever faced in a pre-season.
And the Manager hopes that it will provide them with a solid base to work from as they build towards to beginning of the new Sky Bet League One campaign on August 5th.
“I cannot emphasise enough how hard everyone has worked this week,” the Manager said. “All of the players are knackered and I’d like to thank them all and my staff for their dedication this week.
“It can’t stop, though. We’ve achieved nothing; we’ve won nothing and we have to keep doing this every single day and the success will then hopefully follow during the season.
“We go away from the week with a sense of tiredness, fatigue and thoughts of ‘we could not have done any more’. We’ll go away, recharge the batteries and will come back and work hard again next week.”
Robinson’s players drove themselves through a number of energy-sapping drills during the week and he says that seeing the squad’s team spirit grow was equally as pleasing.
He said: “There is a rawness and a determination about us and the players and I are all desperate to be successful.
“I’m really seeing things in the players that I have not seen in them since I’ve been here. It’s not me, it is a change in mentality.
“Seeing the players laugh together was fantastic. A group of friends and people that want to be together can sometimes override any skill or talent. I think the saying is ‘hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard’.
“I think we have the talent. If we work hard and incorporate the two then we’ll be a very strong team next year.”
Charlton face three matches in Ireland next week – beginning against Crumlin United on Monday night. All three games will be streamed live on the club’s new premium video platform Valley Pass.