Steven Gerrard has revealed one or two squad members ‘indulged’ in their time away and are somewhat further behind the rest in terms of fitness.

The manager, giving a wide-ranging pre-season interview, explained that fitness coach Jordan Milsom gave the squad some ‘maintenance’ exercises for their downtime including diet and lifestyle, and while the vast majority kept to that and have returned in pretty good condition, one or two did not and had a ‘good summer’.

Obviously the manager isn’t going to name who they are, and indeed many fans will defend this as ‘letting their hair down’ during some much-needed time off, but Gerrard didn’t seem thrilled by the fact he’ll be without those players on Monday for the Partick match, given they’re much further behind in terms of fitness.

One of them could be Ryan Kent, given reported ‘niggles’ which kept him separate from the group on the return to Auchenhowie, but that’s just guesswork.

Equally, any player who wasn’t in the main group could be suspect as well, with Ryan Jack also nowhere to be seen – but he’s said to still be recovering from surgery.

Whoever it was has a lot of work to do to catch up with the rest of the group who are in a lot better condition, and the manager has confirmed those players will be absent for the clash with Thistle.