Guernsey’s footballers relax on Croatia’s Adriatic coast before pulling on their England shirts this afternoon for their first Uefa Regions Cup match – against the host nation (Picture by Matt Bunn/Pinnacle)

WE FINALLY got down to the serious business of why we are here yesterday as we trained for the first time.

It was only a light session, but coupled with a morning swim at the local beach it helped to shake off any of the cobwebs we might have been feeling from travelling.

Training took place at 2.30pm and, although it was warm, it wasn’t sweltering, which was a good thing from our point of view as we’re not used to playing in the heat like Turkey and Croatia are.

Our game with Croatia today kicks off at 4.30pm so it should be even cooler by then.

After we finished training we again went to the beach for a swim. We’re told it helps our recovery as it should act like an ice bath – but the water is quite nice so we’re more than happy to jump in.

Unfortunately, we had one less ball to throw around in the sea after Ben Coulter inadvertently booted Colin Fallaize’s volleyball onto a nearby roof at the end of our swim and, despite his best Rambo attempts at retrieving it, he couldn’t quite reach it.

Our afternoon swim also saw us bump into vocal Guernsey fan Jim Kindred, who was catching a few rays as we arrived.

I suggested in yesterday’s column that the hotel looked ‘like it might have experienced its heyday some years ago’ but it is starting to grow on the lads.

We’ve discovered the games room, which includes table tennis tables and skittle alleys, and the meals continue to consist of several courses and large portions – so that is definitely in its favour.

We feel confident about today’s game. We’ve had a good preparation and arrived much earlier at our base than the other sides, who only showed up yesterday evening.

Tony Vance has not yet named the side – I suspect that will be done at a meeting this morning – but he’s made it clear that whatever the starting team is today will be different to the one that runs out on Sunday as he’s keen to keep the side fresh with three games in five days.

What we do know about today’s game is that the pitch is the best we’ll play on while we here.

One of the English FA officials who is with us did a ‘recce’ last week and said the last two venues were not quite up to the same standard, which is no surprise as the match against Croatia takes place in a modern and enclosed all-seater stadium.

Oh, and Glyn Dyer is now winning on Mariokart. Craig Young is still in the reckoning but Dom Heaume and Jamie Dodd are hot on their heels.