Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has his eyes on the prize after pre-season regime

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has his eyes on the prize after pre-season regime

Since he was a teenager, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has taken part in his fair share of pre-season training sessions as well as winning a few medals along the way with a handful of top teams.

With previous club, Besiktas, his pre-seasons over the past couple of years may not have been as rigorous as the others, but the medals still rolled in after joining Celtic in February and adding SPFL and Scottish Cup gongs to his collection.

And the 32-year-old is intent on using this current pre-season as a springboard to even more success with the Hoops.

He’s delighted that the off-term training regime is finally coming to an end as he and his team-mates are putting the finishing touches to their fitness and sharpness ahead of Monday’s Flag Night when Dundee visit for Celtic’s first game in defence of their trophy.

The midfielder said: “That's always the way in pre-season. After a while, it starts to feel like it drags on.

“You just want the start of the season to come and that's the same every single year. So, we're kind of at that point now and looking forward to Monday night now.

“I think for me this is probably actually my first proper pre-season in a good three years. I’d say with where I was at before this time in the window in Turkey, I was sort of in and out, leaving not leaving, so I wasn't part of the team.

‘So, it's actually really nice this year to have had a proper pre-season with the lads. And it's strange for me that I didn't have that for the last couple of years.’ “I've really enjoyed that. That helps a lot. Obviously, it gives you the fitness that you need.

“It helps refresh the mind with everything that we were touching on last year, how we were trying to play, things that we were good at, things we were not so good at, it gives you more time to work with that.

“I think even though this might be the18th pre-season for me now, you still get that same buzz and I'm still running around with a few 16 and 17-year-olds out there who are excited. So, you feed off that sort of energy, and you feel the same age as always.”

And on the Celtic No,21’s fitness, he said: “We’ll have to see on Monday. We'll see how much of a difference it's made then.

“But I just think you get all the aches and pains, and you go through the hard work and the load, and you sort of get that out of the way in pre -season.

“So, then the idea is you get to the start of the season, and you've built up that tolerance, and you feel good to go and it prepares you. You sort of work harder than you would once the schedule's sort of up and running.

“I guess you could almost say we over-train at times to build up that tolerance. You can cope with the season and the games and the matches. And obviously we're in different competitions, so you need to be able to deal with those demands.

“So having a good full pre-season just helps you with that. I think without the pre-season, you can never 100 per cent know if you're fully fit or durable enough to last for the whole season.

“I just think that's really important. And we'll have to see early on how that goes and how I'm feeling. But right now, I feel great.

“The boys all look fit as well. And I think going into the start of the season, the first couple of games, there's always that next jump up in intensity when it's competitive again.

“So, you sort of maybe use the first few as well to get minutes in the legs for different lads and keep building as well. But pre-season is massive."

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Training Gallery: Celtic v Dundee

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Fixtures

Celtic Vs. Dundee - Mon, Aug 3rd 2026, 19:30

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