Front man Kevin Ellison makes a welcome return to the squad on Boxing Day after serving his one match ban.
Like the rest of the squad Ellison trained on Christmas Eve but will be left to do his own fitness work on Christmas Day so he can spend more time with his family - a decision the experienced fans' favourite appreciates.
He said: "It’s a time when you have to spend some time with your family.
"We are quite fortunate here in that the gaffer realises that and gives us Christmas Day off as long as we all make sure we go for a bit of a run and don’t over indulge and eat too much.
"It looks a bit strange to see someone running round the streets on Christmas Day but it is good and I enjoy it. I have been in the game a long time. Peter Taylor always had Christmas Day off and Ronnie Moore did one year and not the next so I think it may often depend on how the team is doing at the time.
"There is no doubt the Boxing Day game is always a big one so I think the manager has to make sure he is doing what he thinks is right at the time.
"If I was a manager I am pretty sure I would always let the lads have Christmas Day off and trust them to look after themselves but make sure I would be looking at people on Boxing Day to make sure they hadn’t over indulged in any way.''