The hard work continued on the fifth day of West Ham United's pre-season training camp in Switzerland.
While the early-evening Uhren Cup meeting with Swiss Super League champions FC Basel took centre-stage on Wednesday, the Hammers squad were hard at work soon early in the morning.
The players and staff congregated at the swimming pool in the team hotel at 7am, enjoying a gentle stretch before doing a few lengths to soothe aching muscles.
After breakfast, the squad hopped on their mountain bikes for the two-mile ride to the training complex on the outskirts of Spiez - the picturesque town on the banks of Lake Thun that has played host to the Hammers since last Friday.
There, manager Sam Allardyce and his coaching staff put the players through a series of passing and finishing drills before enjoying a game of 11v11 and walking through a number of tactical situations.
After threatening to unleash a downpour on Spiez all morning, the heavens finally opened at midday, with the dark grey clouds obscuring the nearby mountains and rain falling heavily.
After lunch, a rest and a pre-match meal, the squad boarded the team coach for the hour-long drive to Grenchen for the meeting with Basel.
The Swiss champions controlled much of the first half, with Switzerland Under-21 star Xherkan Shakiri catching the eye with his elusive skills and powerful shooting.
West Ham held firm until half-time, but went behind shortly afterwards when North Korea international Kwang-Ryong Pak headed Granit Xhaka's lofted cross into the net from six yards.
To the Hammers' immense credit, they refused to buckle under the pressure exerted by the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, who have been back in training for a month and begin their domestic season on Saturday.
The reward came with 15 minutes remaining when Olly Lee robbed Cabral before being brought down inside the penalty area by the midfielder. Junior Stanislas showed confidence and composure to roll the resulting spot-kick into the bottom left-hand corner.
Unfortunately for West Ham, they were unable to remain on level terms, despite having much the better of the closing stages of the game.
With just seconds to go, Julien Faubert was harshly penalised for a foul on Pak and the referee pointed to the spot, allowing substitute Gilles Yapi to slam the ball into the top right-hand corner from 12 yards.
While the disappointment among the West Ham players was evident, it was that the hard work that they have put in will pay off come the visit of Cardiff City on 7 August.