Montrose boss Stewart Petrie admits pre-season training has changed beyond all recognition from his days as a player at Dunfermline.
Back then, Petrie had two months off before coming back to an arduous fortnight of running before finally being introduced to a football once again.
In contrast, the Gable Endies squad have had only four weeks off and the ball was out from the first session last week with Petrie admitting he was impressed by the condition of his players as they gear up for a hectic start to the new season with four friendlies and four Betfred Cup games to be negotiated in just 26 days.
He said: “The boys came back fit and well apart from Michael Bolochoweckyj who is still recovering from his Achilles operation.
“He has had the boot removed and he is walking about. Hopefully he will be back playing before the end of the year.
“However, we are not putting any timescale on his comeback as he still has a lot of tough rehab to do.
“The rest of the lads have been training hard. The new boys have fitted in well and have already had the mick taken out of them which is always a good sign.
“We have had the ball out every night which is a bit different to when I was a player when you didn’t see it for the first fortnight!
“I remember prior to my first pre-season at Dunfermline we had eight or nine weeks off but now it is four weeks and you are almost straight back into games with a friendly against Cove Rangers at Links Park this Friday.
“The short break, though, means you don’t have to batter them fitness wise – it is more a case of making sure there aren’t any injuries as we have eight games coming up in a short spell between friendlies and the Betfred Cup.
“We are still working on bringing in one or two new players and hopefully we will have something to report by the end of this week.”
