Worthing fans set for a friendly welcome - and not before time

The Worthing boss has already been able to put the club’s college-based players through a training session on the newly laid artificial surface.

Now it’s only 19 days before the full first-team squad will train on it.

And although there are no more league or cup games to come in this truncated season for frustrated Worthing, they are hoping to stage a couple of friendlies – perhaps in May – to give fans their first taste of Woodside Road action in more than a year.

Hinshelwood said: “We had our first session with the education boys (under-19s) on Monday and it felt like normality was coming back.

“It was the first session on the new pitch and it went really well. First impressions of the pitch are that it’s a vast improvement on the previous surface.

“It was a sharp session with the lads and there was lots of adrenaline.

“We can get the squad together from the end of the month and Tuesday, March 30 is pencilled in for their first session.

“Although there are no competitive games we don’t want them going from just before last Christmas to pre-season without anything.

“We’ll have some in-house games and it would be great to put on a couple of friendlies once fans are allowed back. Supporters have been waiting a long time to see any football!”

With news that the new Isthmian premier season is due to start on August 14, Hinshelwood feels the start of pre-season will be the right time to begin pre-season after a few weeks off.

The 2021-22 campaign will see the Mackerel Men launch a new bid for promotion to National South.

And Hinshelwood said the club hierarchy deserved huge praise for work done behind the scenes and around Woodside Road to get everything ready.

The manager hopes to have his season’s squad reasonably settled by the time pre-season friendlies start.