CLYDEBANK manager Gordon Moffat has welcomed the comeback of full contact training after the Scottish Government gave clubs the green light to return.

Sides across the country were ordered to stop their socially distanced training on August 13 after protocol breaches by players from Aberdeen and Celtic.

But First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed last week that clubs would be able to return to full training – not just the socially-distanced version – from Monday of this week.

The Bankies missed out on three sessions during the mini shutdown. And while Moffat revealed to the Post this week that his players have actually felt the benefit of having the time off, he has called on his troops to be ready for the upcoming sessions.

Speaking prior to the first session back, he said: “We’re waiting on some confirmation from the league, but the SFA guidance has said we’re back, so it’ll be full steam ahead with training this week.

“And it looks like it’s full contact so it’ll be a bit more use.

“I think we missed out on three sessions, which wasn’t a worry for us at all, because we had been back for a while.

Read more: Supporters hailed as club secures sponsorship for all first team players

“There were other teams that maybe just started when it happened and it would have been a bit more of a concern for them.

“We’ve been purposely not pushing them too hard by only doing two sessions a week instead of three, but next week we will go up to full training, with three sessions and full contact, and that’ll be us really starting.

“To have the wee break wasn’t actually a bad thing for us, as we had been training for a number of weeks, so it gave the boys a wee bit of a break.

“Some sessions were tough, and we had a few niggles.

“Some of them have said they’ve felt the benefit of the week out, and they’re ready to go again, so we’re looking forward to it.”

It was also announced this past week that local friendly matches could resume from September 11, and Moff added that it’s now just a case of waiting to see whether those fixtures can take place.

“We’ve got five or six games lined up and hopefully we get the go ahead to go and play those,” he said.

“I suppose I’ve done my bit and planned the best pre-season I can, and we’ll just need to see if it comes to fruition or not.”