Pre-season is underway for Burton Albion - and all but two of the Brewers' squad are already back in training.

Jackson Irvine and new club-record signing Liam Boyce are the only current absentees, with both being given extra time off ahead of their returns after being on international duty following the end of the 2016/17 campaign.

Northern Ireland striker Boyce was also still in domestic action in Scotland until May 20, when he scored twice in Ross County's final-day win over Kilmarnock - a fortnight after Albion's final game of the Championship season.

The rest of the Brewers first-team players have been back at St George's Park for testing, as preparations for their second successive Championship campaign begin.

That includes Albion's three other new signings - Stephen Warnock, Jake Buxton and Matty Lund.

Lund was actually on international duty alongside Boyce for Northern Ireland at the start of June - but his domestic season with Rochdale in League One finished three weeks earlier than Boyce's.

Matty Lund (left) is into pre-season training with Burton Albion

Academy graduates Ben Fox, Joe Sbarra and Marcus Dinanga were part of the early pre-season sessions, as well as midfielder Jack Hallahan and defender Jayden Cotterill, who both signed their first professional deals in May.

Academy midfielder Tom Hammerton also took part alongside the first-team.

The first day of pre-season on Thursday involved speed tests, agility tests and the yo-yo test, which sees players running back and forth in a set space - with a 10-second interval in between until they are unable to continue.

And captain John Mousinho says it is good to set benchmarks early as he and his teammates look to be as ready as possible for the curtain-raiser with Cardiff City on August 5.

Ben Fox and Jayden Cotterill are both straight into pre-season testing with the Brewers

"It's great to be back," he told the club's website.

"It's good coming back and seeing all the lads and some new faces, just to dust the cobwebs off, get the boots on and get back out there.

"I think it's a good one to get a sort of mark as to where we are and where we need to be to progress in the next six weeks.

"These days you have to be pretty fit coming back into pre-season, it’s not a case of using pre-season to get fit.

"You have to come with some standards of fitness at the start of preseason. All the lads are in shape, we did the weight tests and the body fat and I think everyone will be ready to fire.”