Adam Forshaw believes Leeds United have hit the ground running under Marcelo Bielsa

The Whites returned to Thorp Arch last week to begin their preparations for the upcoming Championship campaign, with six weeks of double and triple sessions ahead before a ball is kicked in anger once again.

United shocked the division last term, imposing Bielsa’s high-intense style of play quickly as they kick-started a stunning season - which saw them finish third - by going unbeaten in their first eight league outings.

Forshaw, though, believes United’s senior squad have returned to the club’s training ground at an even higher level than last summer.

“It’s been similar,” he said of pre-season so far.

“I feel like we’ve got into it quicker this time. We’ve probably had more of a base fitness from last season.

“The sessions we got given to take away with us gave us a base to actually come back and really ramp it up. It’s good to be back in doing what you love doing and playing football.

“There’s obviously a lot of hard runs that we have to do and a lot of gym sessions to get the condition back in your legs.

“It’s what we’d expect. If we want to get back to the levels we were at last season then we need to put the work in now.”

The 27-year-old endured a frustrating campaign due to injuries.

A broken bone in his foot saw him miss the start of the 2018/19 season, while a number of other issues saw the midfielder limited to just 20 league starts during his first full campaign at Elland Road.

Forshaw also limped out of the opening leg of the semi-final play-off defeat to Derby County, meaning extra work has been needed during the short break to reach full fitness.

“I stayed in for a little bit after the season finished,” he revealed.

“Before I went away on my holidays I had a gym plan to follow.

"I know what I’m doing now, I’ve had enough pre-seasons to know where I need to be at when I come back.”