East Fife gather again as pre-season training kicks off

Darren Young was reunited with his squad towards the end of last week for unique training sessions which have to stick to on-going government safety guidance.

But despite a break of around five months, the Bayview boss was delighted with the condition of his players.

He said: “I’m really happy with how everybody is looking.

“There are maybe one or two with little niggles so they only did the one session on Saturday.

“At the end of the day you want them to come in and do as much as they can but you also have to be cautious.

“They’re frustrated about being off for maybe five months, coming back and feeling a wee niggle but that’s always going to happen, just because of the length of time they’ve been out.”

Pre-seasons in general tend to last barely a few weeks nowadays, but the longer lay-off has forced the Fifers to re-draw their training schedules.

“We’ve changed things a bit because you don’t want to do too much too soon,” added Young. “It’s not as if they’ve been out kicking a ball so you have to watch the wee things like groins and thighs.

“If anybody starts to feel anything we won’t take any chances.”