Man Utd are in Ireland for a training camp as they look to navigate a 24-day break between fixtures at a key point in the season.

To put Manchester United’s 24-day mid-season break into context, it is longer than Manchester City’s pre-season last summer. We are in uncharted territory here for clubs to be going so long without a game at what is normally the crunch point in the season.

City’s condensed pre-season was due to their Club World Cup commitments earlier in the summer, while United’s hiatus is due to an international break and the scheduling of the FA Cup quarter-finals the following weekend. It presents plenty of challenges, however.

United have become accustomed to the slower pace this season. Having been knocked out of both cup competitions at the first hurdle, they will play just 40 matches in the campaign. Now, they have this lengthy break between games to navigate.

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While some players went on international duty, plenty of others are kicking their heels between games, desperate to get going again. Everyone has had some time off, and now they have regrouped as a squad they flew to Dublin on Monday for an intense training camp before they return to Manchester on Thursday. They will still have to watch everyone else resume Premier League action before they face Leeds on Monday night.

Time will tell whether United have got things right during their three-and-a-half week break, but Dr David Kelly, who spent 12 years as a senior sports scientist at Old Trafford, believes the camp across the Irish Sea is a masterstroke by Michael Carrick.

“Someone like Michael, who’s got his finger right on the pulse at the top level, will understand that just taking the players away from that sort of 24-day slog, it just refreshes people mentally.

“Then you’ve got the players there as well, so you’re actually staying in a hotel, everyone’s together, it gives you the opportunity for plenty of get-togethers in terms of meetings.

“You’ll chat to players individually, maybe get some feedback on how they think things are going, how they feel things are, implement some different tactics and strategies if that’s how they feel they want to go and change direction slightly with things.

“Michael is a very clever football guy who has been at the highest level, and he’s got some brilliant staff around him. That little break away, physically and mentally, will be an absolute game-changer for the players.”

Dr Kelly conducted his PhD research on periodisation plans, a model used to plan training over a dedicated period of time, so he is well placed to assess the unusual challenges of this 24-day break.

His approach to the break would be to split the 24 days into four “micro-cycles” of six-day blocks, and he talks about the benefits of arranging behind-closed-doors games, something United have opted against.

As well as the challenge of keeping the players physically ready to go, it is about making sure they are still switched on mentally when the usual carrot of a game isn’t within sight.

“It’s a challenging time given all football players want to play competitively, that’s the nature of the beast, and you’re saying to these guys, look, you’ve got three and a half weeks where you haven’t got a game,” said Dr Kelly.

“The sort of cherry on the cake is the match day at the end of the week or the match in a few days’ time. That’s what everything’s going towards. We’re now saying, well, hang on a minute, you’ve got 24 days here before we’ve got all that stimulation.

“So we have to try and replicate that as much as we can in training, physically and psychologically. Keep the players at the right levels so that when they kick off at Old Trafford against Leeds United, they are ready, not feeling sluggish because they detrained, but also not heavily fatigued because they’ve done too much.”

The challenge facing United is exacerbated because while some players went away on international duty and played twice, others were left behind at Carrington. Of those, some have been playing for Carrick’s side every week, and others have been struggling for minutes in what has been a settled team.

It means the medical department will need to be aware of the training load required for every player, but there has also been a desire to give them some time off during the break.

“This period is a great time to give those guys a little bit of downtime, a physiological freshen-up, a bit of time with the family just to alleviate any physiological, psychological stresses because obviously they’ve been at it day in, day out, week in and week out,” said Dr Kelly.

“It’s a good time to look at each player individually. Some fringe players may need increased loadings. Some players will be in hard at it, week in and week out, a high number of minutes, but haven’t gone to their internationals.”

Having done some training at Carrington and allowed the players time away to refresh, United will now use their time in Ireland to try and peak again, making sure they are ready for what is always a feisty occasion against Leeds.

Daniel Farke’s side played 120 minutes in the FA Cup on Sunday, so they will have match sharpness and rhythm in their favour, but Dr Kelly believes United’s players will also be bursting to get out of the dressing room next week, having gone so long without a game.

“You don’t want them to take 25 minutes to get going against Leeds, you need to optimally condition them, and I think the beauty of it as well is that when the Leeds game is getting closer and closer, it’s like they will be wanting to kick the doors down to get on the pitch,” he said.

“You’ve always got that sort of reward to dangle towards the end of these 24 days. Look, we’ve got Leeds coming up now, and the players will be getting really ready for this, and what a fitting game to come back to.”