GREENOCK Juniors will return to training in less than a fortnight and have lined up six September friendlies to get ready for the delayed new campaign.

Boss Tommy Molloy says his side are due to start training at the beginning of August, well ahead of the big kick-off on October 17.

It means they will have gone for over seven months without competitive action by the time the new campaign comes round.

The 'Nock will also be forced to play games behind closed doors initially, but the manager says he is just relieved to finally have some certainty.

Molloy told the Tele: “Playing in front of a crowd is the least of my worries just now.

“We’re getting some sort of normality back which is the most important thing.

“I think that I can speak for a lot of people when I say that it’s been the longest four months of my life, it seems as if it’s gone on forever.

“Our last game was on February 29, which is scary if you think about it.

"There's only so many Zoom calls that you can do, or one-to-ones with players before they start to not have any effect."

Molloy says his squad are straining at the leash to get back to training.

He said: “I know for a fact that the players are champing at the bit to come back.

“The boys will be returning with a good level of fitness, they’ve been really good over the lockdown

“They’ve sent us their results from the fitness programmes we set up and they have looked after themselves very well.

“You can’t even say there’s been a couple who’ve been slacking, because their results have been fantastic.

“We will get a good month of training in August, then focus on friendlies come September - we’ve got six lined up.

“I wouldn’t normally do that many but the boys have been out of action so long and this will get them back used to playing again.

“It’s been a long road for us to get back but it seems as if there’s a wee bit of light at the end of the tunnel now.

"With the new league set-up we’ve been kept in the loop very well and we know what’s happening.

“We’re good to go, we’re prepared and we can't wait."

The Nock chief is confident of having a successful season - and says the coaching staff will build up the training regime in a controlled manner so their players peak at just the right time.

Molly said: “I’m not wanting a pre-season that’s going to turn into a slog.

“We don’t want to be training for 10 full weeks before a ball’s kicked, because that’s no use to anyone.

“We will look to keep that bit of hunger, because a successful pre-season can turn into a good season."