Portsmouth boss responds to talk training intensity is creating injuries in promotion battle with Ipswich Town, Plymouth Argyle, Derby County, Bolton Wanderers & Co

The Blues boss has outlined the intricate detail and extreme scrutiny afforded the programme players undertake to avoid them breaking down.

Supporters have been exploring possible reasons for the number of injuries suffered by Cowley’s squad so far this term, with some speculating the intensity of Pompey’s training regime could be a contributing factor.

Pompey’s head coach explained, however, the players were given a heavy workload in pre-season to build a base level of fitness.

But with the campaign up and running, schedules are tailored depending on the stress players are being put under.

Cowley said: ‘We monitor everything.

‘The world we live in now we have GPS and heart-rate monitors, so we can monitor quite clearly what all the players are doing every day.

‘In pre-season, it’s more about trying to build a base to be able to cope with the rigours and demands of a league season.

‘All of the players are individual, the nature of people is they can all cope with something slightly different individually.

‘The more you know an athlete, the more you understand.’

Cowley gave an insight into the consideration afforded training with Pompey now into the rump of the League One season.

The 43-year-old likes to work on a six-week cycle, with his players running around 36km per week. Training is then amended depending on the fixture list and intensity games arrive at.

The Pompey boss explained the end result should be a training programme which doesn’t create the kind of injuries his side have experienced of late.

Cowley added: ‘Take Marlon Pack, for example.

‘For us, we know in a three-game week - Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday - we know he will run 12km in those games. That’s 36km in a week.

‘We then know we have a very small amount of volume to work with in training.

‘So most of his training will be recovery based and in the video room, because we know if we push too much then naturally he will break down.

‘You will then have another athlete like Dane Scarlett, who will not be quite as high with volume - 11km - but he will have an incredible amount of high intensity running, sprint speed and sprint distance.

‘So you have to look at him and say he does 11km in a game but somewhere between 1,200m and 1,500m high speed, and somewhere between 300m and 500m sprint distance.

‘So when you are training him you have to replicate what he does in a game, so you are preparing him for what is to come.

‘That’s all more in the preparation phase, once the games actually start in three-game weeks you don’t really touch the players in training - most of it is tactical work.

‘On a Saturday to Saturday week there is a bit more scope. That’s 24k, so you have 10km or 11km to work with.

‘We work on a six-week cycle with the idea we look at the fixtures and adapt the training around it accordingly.

‘We have a clear way of periodising training.

‘We are all creatures of habit, if you can keep the routine consistent you are much less likely for players to pick up injuries - certainly soft-tissue injuries. The impact injuries will happen with the competitive nature of football.’