New Everton boss Sean Dyche has revealed the reasoning behind making his players do the bleep test shortly after his appointment.
Dyche was last week brought in to replace Frank Lampard, who was sacked after guiding the club to just three wins from 20 games.
Footage showed Dyche overseeing his new charges with the squad completing the bleep test at their Finch Farm training base.
The Toffees boss could be heard shouting words of encouragement during the arduous running drill.
And he has now revealed it was his way of finding out the condition of his players and 'not some kind of bee sting'.
Speaking to BT Sport ahead of the clash with Arsenal, Dyche said: ‘It’s not lack of fitness. It’s a measure. One measure, we’ve got different measures.
'I don’t question other managers, there’s misconstrued ideas. It’s not some kind of bee sting, it’s a measure. I’ve got years of facts and stats on what the body needs to deliver.
'We’ve got measures, we’ll do others this week. It’s not about proving a point. I explained that to them. Gauge how our style fits their body’s capabilities.’
Asked if the players are good enough, Dyche replied: ‘We’ll see. A lot of them have been brought in for a lot of money. They didn’t come here for no reason. I reminded them of that. Taking action and delivering, that’s the next step.’
On what his first week at the club was like, he added: ’Interesting. You try to fast-track pre-season work, five weeks, into five days. Players have been receptive. Lots of honesty and feedback from them.
‘There’s been an honesty. We asked them questions, there’s been a real honesty to it. They’re professional people, they know their not firing on all cylinders. They have respect for the outgoing manager. They felt they could have done more, I said we need to do more, quite obviously.’
Everton sit 19th in the table, above bottom of the table Southampton on goal difference.
A win over league leaders Arsenal will see the Toffees momentarily climb out of the relegation zone ahead of Wolves and West Ham's games.