JOHNSTONE Burgh boss Jamie McKim insists he has been working flat out to make sure the club is in fine fettle...despite the fact his team hasn’t kicked a ball this year.

The Keanie Park outfit were last in action way back in December, when they beat Lugar Boswell Thistle 3-1.

Lockdown restrictions then forced the West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) to be put on hold before the 2020/21 campaign was finally declared null and void last month.

However, there has been plenty to keep McKim occupied in recent weeks, with non-contact training sessions able to go ahead and preparations for the new season moving at pace.

He told Gazette Sport: “We’ve had a lot of time to discuss how we want to go forward and how we want to play next season but we’ve also had to put time aside for chats with players.

“There is loads happening just now – people might think there’s nothing going on because there’s no football but this is busy season for us.”

Burgh went through 2020 without tasting defeat, after their 2019/20 League Two title triumph was followed by an unbeaten run over the seven matches they played in WoSFL Conference B before the campaign was scrapped.

McKim has now marked May 17 as an important date in his calendar, as that’s when clubs are due to resume full training and take part in pre-season friendlies, with the 2021/22 campaign kicking off two months later on July 17.

Until then, he will continue to put his players through their paces in socially-distanced training sessions, which he believes are just as important for their mental wellbeing as they are for physical fitness.

McKim said: “We’re still doing wee, non-contact training sessions just now but our first big milestone is going to be May 17, when we are allowed contact sessions and friendlies.

“We’re delighted there is progress coming.

“I know the weather is better and you’re allowed to do different things but there’s not much for them to do in terms of group training, so I think, as a club and as coaches, we’ve got the responsibility to still allow that social aspect.

“Although it is socially distanced, you’re still getting that social side and you are training and exercising in a team environment, so we’ll run that all the way through until we can train normally again.”