New Mills boss Dave Birch excited to see light at the end of the tunnel

The Millers will return to training on 4th July under existing social distancing conditions as they gear up for the new North West Counties Football League season.

Clubs and league bosses are also set to discuss a start date for the upcoming campaign during a meeting in the next two weeks.

“My coach and physio are two professional lads and have set the training plans up,” said Birch. “The lads will meet at the ground in small groups.

“Initially they will do a quick 90 mins under social guidelines restrictions and then we will train around the Hyde area.

“I have been on furlough for the last three moths, so it will be good to have football and life in general getting back to normal. There is some light at the end of the tunnel.”

And Birch is confident that his plans are coming together nicely as he looks to stamp his mark on the club during his first full season in charge.

“I am chomping at the bit to go now,” he added. “We took over in mid-season (Birch and assistant Mike Norton) and have got our own lads in now.

“We have kept the majority of the lads we have got are looking to add two or three and we have a good set of lads.

“To be honest we have got some players we really shouldn’t have at this level and we have had to have a lot of lengthy discussions to persuade them to stay.

“We will have a full pre-season under our belt and can’t wait to get going.

“We are further ahead than normal but that will go for a lot of the other teams.”

And key to his plans will be raising the fitness levels across his squad.

“The fitness level across non-league will be a lot higher than normal because they have had a lot more time,” said Birch

“They are at it every day, we have got some lads who are flying and we are trying to slow them down.

“Fitness is massive. During my playing days I always played under managers who were really keen on the fitness side.

“One of my old managers said if you are fitter than the team you are playing then you are halfway there.

“We found that out when we took over the job. We brought lads in on loan but what came with it was they were not fit.

“We were competing for 70 mins and were probably the better team but then we found ourselves with backs to the walls for the last 20 mins because we were nowhere near fit enough.”

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