Repeated Sprint Ability Test

The protocol consisted of two sets of 5 × 20-m sprints with a 15-s recovery between sprints and 1-min between sets^{13 (link),16 (link)}. At the end of each sprint, the players engaged in a 10-m deceleration phase, followed by a 10-m active jog recovery period. Sprint times were recorded using Electronic Timing gates (Brower Timing System, Salt Lake City, UT, USA). This system has been previously assessed for validity and reliability with reported accuracy of 0.01-s^{13 (link),32 (link)}. The recorded performance measure encompassed the sum of sprint times achieved during the two sets (SST). The Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and the Coefficient of Variance (CV) for RSS test were 0.93 and 0.37% respectively for SST^{16 (link)}. The heart rate (HR) was continuously recorded during the RSS using a Heart Rate Monitor (Polar Accurex Plus, Kempele, Finland). Moreover, finger-tip capillary lactate concentrations ([Lac]) were measured before and 3-min following the RSS test using a hand-held Lactate Pro device (Arkray, KDK, Japan). Following the RSS test, the participants’ rating of perceived exertion (on a scale of 0–10) was recorded^{33 (link)}.