Castagne is targeting Euro return

“I’d rather play them than train. It’s going to be different, but we have to use that as a reset.

“We had a great first season when I arrived, winning the cup, but last year was a downer.

“Now we have to go back up. In football you have ups and downs and now we need an up, because we are down right now.

“It’s good, it’s a good reset and we have to keep pushing.

“We have to get something this year. When you get the taste of European football, you are not addicted to it, but when it’s taken away you feel weird and you want to play, so I think the hunger is there to get back into it.”

For Castagne himself, he will arrive into the season in a much better place than last summer.

Twelve months ago, the full-back fractured his skull in a gruesome clash of heads at the European Championships that almost ended his career.

He required a six-hour operation to reconstruct his eye socket and had to wear a mask for a few matches once he returned to fitness.

This summer has been a memorable one for the right reasons, with Castagne, below, welcoming his first child in May before getting married in June.

And with no injury concerns, he is able to hit the ground running.

He said: “I can just go straight back in. I did great in the physical tests.

“You go back in, not 100 per cent but close to it, instead of like last year when I had to start with the basics and building everything back up. It feels good, feels very good.

“If the team plays well, I’m going to play well.

“Hopefully we can do something well as a team and if I can bring something to the team so we can get back to Europe, that’s my objective.”