The Blues have built a super-athletic and physical squad for their second top tier tilt, and have looked good so far on the way to 10 points from their first eight games.

O'Neil spoke last week of the importance of running to his team's success, stressing: "The fitness levels are top.

"We run a lot every weekend. We cover an awful lot of ground, which I can imagine can be difficult to play against for the opposition."

So, what do the stats show?

Abdoul Ouattara is among the top tier's top performers in a number of physical categories (Image: Steve Waller)

Well, for a start, the Blues boast three of the top players in the whole Premier League in terms of ground covered per game.

Midfield star Exequiel Palacios is the number one player in the entire top tier, racking up an average of 12.3 km (7.6 miles) per 90 minutes.

And second in the Premier League is another Blue, right-back Abdoul Ouattara, on 12.2 km a game (7.5 miles).

Daizen Maeda isn't far behind either, averaging 12.1 km, while Leif Davis and Sasa Lukic are also high in the rankings on 11 km each per 90 (6.8 miles).

Julio Enciso is on 10.7 km (6.6 miles) per 90, also in the league's top 100.

Leif Davis is second in the Premier League for total sprints (Image: PA)

When it comes to total overall distance covered so far, Davis is 11th in the Premier League with 88km (54.6 miles).

Leif is also second in the total number of sprints cranked out with 160, behind only Bournemouth's Adrian Truffert (165).

Enciso is just inside the top 25 with 103 sprints to date, with Maeda 27th on 101 and Ouattara 35th on 94.

In terms of sprints per game, Maeda is 16th in the Premier League on 21.1, tied with Ouattara.

Davis is also in the top 25 with 20 a game.

Daizen Maeda's physical output is impressive (Image: Ross Halls)

As a team, Town rank fourth in the top tier for combined distance covered per game, with 117.5 km (73 miles).

Only defending champions Arsenal (119.4 km), Fulham (119) and Brentford (117.6) have outrun them.