It's been another tiring and demanding day for the players in Bad Ragaz as they step-up preparations for tomorrow's friendly against Al-Hilal - and we've been with them every step of the way.

There was a new face in camp this morning in the shape of giant Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos. Having enjoyed three weeks off after playing for his country in the World Cup, Soto arrived in Switzerland at 11pm last night to join up with his teammates. All 22 players scheduled to be in Bad Ragaz have now arrived.

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Training was once again intense this morning, with Roy Hodgson and Sammy Lee each taking a group of players in the first part of the session before the manager took over with all of the players to work on movement and team shape. The players certainly seem to be responding to Roy's methods, with some particularly slick and impressive moves put together on the training field today.

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Ahead of the first training session of the day the entire squad posed for a photograph with the Official Swiss Liverpool Supporters Club. President of the branch, Florian Thurler, attends these camps every year, providing all of the Liverpool party with Swiss chocolates on arrival. Always much appreciated, Florian.

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As we've mentioned before, it is uncomfortably hot over here and the club's medical team are well aware of the need to protect the players during the training sessions. "The heat does make a difference," said Dr Peter Brukner, the club's Head of Medicine and Sports Science. "We need to take more breaks and every ten minutes or so the players will stop and have a drink. They work just as hard as any other day, but we have to make sure they take on enough fluids."

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After training it was back to the team hotel for lunch and then a chance for Roy Hodgson to address the media. His messages were very simple - Torres and Gerrard are not for sale, he hasn't been able to contact Mascherano to clarify his future and, despite much speculation, French striker Loic Remy isn't on the verge of a move to Liverpool. Everything cleared up in a half-hour media conference.

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Back in the country where he served as the national manager, it was no surprise to see a number of Swiss journalists present at the press conference. As a man of many languages, it was no problem for Hodgson to switch between answering questions in English and then German. He spoke fondly of his time in this part of the world and clearly still has a lot of friends over here.

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One of the youngest members of the Liverpool squad out here in Bad Ragaz is Thomas Ince - and the irony wasn't lost on the boss that he has been in football so long he has now coached a father and son combination! "I can't pretend I'm 40 anymore," joked Hodgson. "I remember Thomas in 1995 when he was a little lad running around in his dad's apartment and making sure Paul never got to enjoy any peace after sessions. I've been impressed with Thomas out here. He has talent. In an ideal world he wouldn't be thrust into the quality of matches we are facing out here so early, but it's nice for Paul to know his son is progressing well."  

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Thomas will be given a chance to impress during tomorrow night's first friendly against Al-Hilal. Out of the 22 players out here, only Milan Jovanovic, Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Diego Cavlieri won't figure - so for fans watching the game live on LFC TV you'll get a chance to see 19 of the lads for the first time this season. Many of them will play for just one half so expect a whole range of suibstitutions at the break.

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It may be a match day tomorrow but the players are still scheduled to go through a full training session in the morning. They will train at the local stadium after breakfast and then rest in the afternoon before boarding the coach to take them on the 30-minute journey across the border and into Austria for the first game of pre-season.

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So is the boss looking forward to our opening game tomorrow night? "It would be dishonest of me to say I'm looking forward to it because we have a very young squad over here and we're up against a very good side, the champions of Saudi Arabia," he replied. "I'm looking forward to watching the players work hard and looking to show me they can maybe have a part to play this season. They had better work hard tomorrow night and run around a lot because our opponents certainly will do. This would have been a tough game even if we'd had the Gerrard's, Torres's and Mascheranos of this world out here."

Don't forget the match can be seen on LFC TV from 6pm tomorrow night and also on Liverpoolfc.tv through the e-Season Ticket service.