Carlos Carvalhal says the international break has benefited his side in many ways as preparations continue for Sunday’s showdown with Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield.
With two solid weeks of training under the belt, the head coach feels his side are ready to take on the league leaders, who have a perfect home record with five wins from five.
He explained during Friday morning’s pre-match press conference:
“It was an important international break to us, all the time it is important when you play a lot of games that you have this period so you can introduce more things in the training.
“It’s normal because when you play three games in a short period, a lot of the time you are focused on the recovery.
“It was good for Daniel Pudil to improve his physical condition, it was important also for Almen to be more integrated into the team, to Buckley, to Reach and to Urby.
“It’s good to the new players to understand better and better what we want.”
Insisting his side must be on top form to achieve anything from the game, he added:
“We did a very good two weeks of training, we feel strong and we feel ready. We never know what will happen on Sunday because it is a game.
“But because I know my players, I can feel it when they are absolutely ready and looking forward to the game.
“I’m feeling my team like this and it is very important.”