Barry Maguire admits he was shocked to beat Allan Campbell's beep-test record but he hopes it's the foundation for his best ever season.
The 23-year-old recorded an incredible score of 23.1 to eclipse his former teammate and fellow academy graduate's score of 22.4 last summer.
Campbell - who joined Luton Town this summer - is renowned for his superb fitness but Maguire also prides himself on his conditioning - although he still didn't expect to beat his former Scotland under-21 teammate's score.
"They turned it off and I couldn’t hear the levels at all - I had no clue where I was," said Maguire.
"It wasn’t until I came in last week that they said 23 and I was like ‘no way.’
“I was probably in as much disbelief [to beat Campbell] as other people because I didn’t even know the score until I had finished.
“I’ll take it because it’s something that I pride myself on - my fitness. To come in for pre-season and to get a score like that is massive to my game.”
“It’s been really tough to be fair. From the beep test on the first day and you get a wee bite to eat then it’s back out to training.
“It’s been solid but you need to do it. We’ve been back two or three weeks then it’s straight into a cup game, so we are still considering it pre-season.
“We need to get up to match fitness so getting a win was a massive plus.”
Maguire impressed for the Steelmen last season and he played regularly after the arrival of Graham Alexander in January.
The Bellshill man is a technically-gifted footballer with the ability to dictate the tempo of games with his excellent passing range.
It's a sign of the regard that Maguire is held in at Fir Park that he's been handed the number six shirt this summer but he's just focused on establishing himself as a regular.
He said: “It’s just a number but being on the park is the main thing. It’s not something I was too bothered about because I’m not one of those players that needs a certain number or that.
“It obviously helps having a starting eleven number - it looks the part anyway. You need to play the part on the pitch to keep your position.
“It’s something that I’ve never really been bothered about but I’m happy to have it.
"This season is massive for me as before I was in and out of the team - it was just a learning curve.
“Knowing my age, I needed to figure out what I had to do to stay in the team.
"From speaking to the manager, I know exactly what he’s wanting from me so if I can implement that then I can stay on the pitch.”
Maguire stood out in a slightly more advanced role in Motherwell's 1-0 Premier Sports Cup win over Queen's Park in their first game of the season.
It was a tough test against an impressive Queen's Park side, featuring the outstanding Liam Brown - Maguire's former Motherwell academy teammate.
He laughed: “Wee Scholsey - what a player! I know what he’s capable of and as soon as I saw him on my side of the park, I knew what kind of game I was in for.
“There are no pals on the park. You can have a laugh, here and there, but when it comes to the battle it’s all serious..
“We knew going into the game how good a team Queen’s Park have put together.
"Especially over the last couple of weeks with the players that they’ve brought in and most of the boys know some of the players.
“We know how tough an ask it was going to be but getting the win was the main thing.
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
