Adelaide High Performance Manager Darren Burgess says players can expect “intense” post-Christmas sessions as the countdown to Season 2022 ramps up.

Burgess, who joined Adelaide’s high performance team in September following two years with 2021 Premiers Melbourne, said he was impressed with the side’s fitness levels so far.

But as the players went on leave for Christmas, the highly regarded industry professional said they were not going to take the foot off the pedal.

“The guys have attacked it (pre-season) really well,” Burgess said.

“They came in with a really good level of fitness.

“Every session needs to be a really intense session and you just can’t take a drill off - that has probably been my main message to the players.

“They’ve got three weeks off and within four weeks back we are playing our internal.

“They came in with a really good level of fitness.

“There’s only four weeks of training post-Christmas, so it’ll be very footy-specific (and) it’ll be intense.”

Burgess, who also worked with English Premier League clubs Arsenal and Liverpool as well as cross-town rivals Port Adelaide, said there were plenty of positive signs at West Lakes.

Speaking to the media, Burgess said there were two players in particular he was keen to help get back to peak fitness and to playing their best football.

“From purely a running point of view, they’re right up there with any of the groups I’ve worked with, so it’s a credit to the previous staff and their off-season work ethic,” Burgess said.

“Seeing people like Shane McAdam, Wayne Milera, those guys are the ones that excite me because they’re natural footballers.

“Crows fans haven’t been able to see them play too much.

“He’s (Milera) been out for two years, he’s completed two main training sessions so far, so I wouldn’t want to put any limits on him.

“I remember being here (in Adelaide) when he was drafted and seeing his early football skills and it was phenomenal.

“I don’t think the expectation should be too much on him in the first half of the season while he’s finding his feet again.

“But certainly we’ve got high hopes that he’ll get back to the level that he was.”