Fulham and Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer says his preparation for the season ahead won't be harmed by not having a proper break over the summer.
In between Schwarzer's national commitments with the Socceroos' successful World Cup qualifying campaign and the Cottagers' pre-season tour of Australia, Schwarzer has only grabbed time-off when he can.
The 36-year-old was at it again on Wednesday night, playing the first half of Fulham's convincing 5-0 win over the Perth Glory, the club's third match on their Australian tour.
But despite facing more matches this campaign as the Cottagers play in both the Premiership and Europa League, Schwarzer, Fulham's player of the season in 2008-09, isn't concerned he hasn't had enough time to re-charge the batteries.
"I've had little bits and pieces, here and there," Schwarzer said on Wednesday night.
"I feel really good and it's been nice to have a bit of time off and I'm going to have a little bit more time off now before I go back to the UK."
"I'll be back early next week and be ready to go and I'm excited about it."
"(But) I was excited about this tour first and foremost. It's the first time in my professional career in Europe that I've been with a team that's come to Australia and toured and for me that was very exciting."
"For the game in this country, it's a massive boost and to be part of a team that played here and played my part, it was great, I was excited about it."
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said participating in the tour was entirely Schwarzer's call.
"Really and truly, had Mark said to me, 'look I need my three weeks absolute rest, with no matches and no commitments whatsoever', then I would have given it to him," Hodgson said.
"But he knew we were coming here, he knew how important the tour was for Fulham football club. He knew how well we wanted to do and what a good impression we wanted to make, so he's actually given up time on his holiday to play for us, which is very, very pleasing."
The Cottagers may not have started the pre-season tour well, losing to the new Gold Coast United 2-1, but since then the London side have picked up their intensity, defeating Melbourne Victory 3-0 and finishing off their trip with a blistering 5-0 win over Perth.
"Obviously there's always going to be a bit of pressure on you (when you tour)," Schwarzer said.
"The expectation is there that you're going to come out here as a Premier League side and we obviously had a very good season last season and you're expected to probably win games more comfortably."
"We were disappointed to lose the first game to the Gold Coast but when you take things into consideration, how little time we had to prepare for the match and how early it was in our pre-season, I think overall, it was a decent enough performance."
"And then we've sort of progressed. Our target is being ready on July 30th, for our Europa League game against whoever it will be and that's what we're working towards."