Celtic winger James Forrest has admitted that the heat in Austria is making training tougher than it is in Scotland.
The Scottish Premiership champions arrived in Austria on Monday as they step up their preparations for the upcoming season, which will also be Neil Lennon's first full season in charge of the club after being appointed as the Hoops manager for a second time.
Celtic are scheduled to face Pinkafeld and Wiener Neustadt over the next four days before flying to Switzerland for another friendly.
Forrest was one of the internationalists who have joined with the rest of the squad in Austria after being afforded an extra week off.
The warm-weather training in the country has made training sessions harder for the 27-year-old but the player is confident it will help the team when they return to Scotland.
“The first session yesterday was hard”, Forrest told Celtic's official website.
“I think if it had been a session back home, it would perhaps have been a normal one, but the heat makes it so much more challenging.
"Ten days of that will definitely help us when we go back to Scotland, and also for the European qualifiers."
Celtic will commence their new season on 9th July when they face Bosnian side FK Saravejo in what could be first of four Champions League qualifiers.
