Auchinleck Talbot boss Tommy Sloan admitted some players were in “better shape than others” as his squad resumed training for the first time in more than four months.

Talbot, along with every other club in the new West of Scotland Football League, were given the green-light to resume training last month provided they meet strict health and safety protocols and can only train in small groups.

Sloan’s side have not played since March when the league season was prematurely ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic with Talbot declared champions based on points per game.

After more than four months off the pitch, Sloan, was pleased to return but admits it’s a completely different experience.

He said: “There were quite a few boys missing from our first training session.

“It’s difficult as we can only take small groups at once rather than the whole squad together. It’s something new and we all have to learn to adapt but hopefully that can change soon and we can get back to contact training.

“The main thing was getting back and it was fine. Of course it’s not how we want to train but it’s better than nothing so it was good to get the boys back in.

“There is not a lot you can do in small groups so the big thing for me was monitoring the players’ fitness levels.

“Some of the players were in better shape than others and that’s what I expected but overall I was pleased with the level.”

He joked: “I could have named the players that were not in as good a shape as they should have been prior to meeting.”

Talbot are only training once a week at present with no firm start date agreed for when the new West of Scotland Football League will kick-off.

Sloan says it’s difficult to make any preparations when the guidance is changing regularly.

He said: “The goalposts seem to get moved every week. There was a lot of positivity recently but now it looks like a start date in October rather than September. You can only take it day by day. The big worry is a second wave of the virus but we want to remain positive.”