"It was a decent pitch in Germany but now we want to be back on a familiar surface," he said. "The new lads are all looking forward to their first taste of playing at Sixfields.
"I know that Liam and Leon have played here before, but it is always different when it is your first home game and I know that they, along with Abdul Osman, are really looking forward to Wednesday.
"We are now ready to move onto the next stage of our build up."
Under three weeks remain until the league one campaign kicks off against Cheltenham Town, and although there is a long time until that first game, Gray has confirmed the majority of the base is now in place.
"A lot of the ground work has been done," he said. "The fitness is good and the conditioning work has been done, so now we are moving on to look at shape, formations and the technical side of the game.
"Shape, possession and ball work will become more important in the next few weeks and we are looking forward to a good week with the game against QPR and then the visit to Luton on Saturday."