FLEXIBILITY will be the key word from manager Alan Knill as Scunthorpe United get down to some serious pre-season training with the ball this week.

It follows two days of stamina work and a visit to a gym in Manchester to test their individual fitness levels.

Knill will also take his players away this week for a couple of days in the Lake District.

But it is time with the ball on the training pitch that he will concentrate on most.

"There is quite a lot of work I want to with formation and shape," said the United boss.

"It is important we know what we are going to do when we kick-off the new season, so it is not a shock to the players.

"My teams are all about pace and passing and movement.

"But I also want us to be as flexible as we can with different systems of how we play.

"So far we have played pretty much 4-2-3-1.

"But I want to be flexible within the team so we can change to another system if we need to and all the players can be quite comfortable doing that.

"That is the advantage of having very good technical players as well because they will find that quite simple to do.

"If we make the call during a game that we are going to change formation, it is important the players are all comfortable with that and know exactly what their role is going to be within that change.

"That is why I like to look for players who can play in more than just one role.

"Obviously that is going to take a bit of time on the training ground.

"The game has changed now a lot where what is perceived to be a striker will drop into midfield and make an extra man there. This is something we are going to be looking closely at."

United kick-off their programme of pre-season friendlies with a game at Bottesford Town on Saturday (3pm).

It's the first of seven build-up games before the big League One kick-off at Wycombe on Saturday, August 6.