In place for a return to pitch

football but the one thing we’ve never done is being caught out for fitness in the close to 40 games that I’ve been involved in with the club in Europe so we have to make sure we’re there on that as well.’

Perth said training had been going well so far.

‘We’re at the start of our fourth week and we really haven’t had an injury.

‘We’ve had a couple of small things with Gary Rogers and Sean Hoare but they’re nothing major. John Mountney has returned to training so in that sense I’m really, really happy. It has been a perfect pre-season.’

Alan Reynolds was officially unveiled as the club’s new assistant last Tuesday and Perth said he had already made an impact on the training pitch.

‘Alan is an experienced person around the league and for too long Irish coaches have been undervalued. I think he’s someone who is very experienced but he has come in as if he has been here for a long, long time so we’re very happy so far.’

The manager also welcomed the addition of Joshua Gatt to the squad and said the twicecapped USA international would be given a chance to prove himself despite having his career interrupted by four major knee surgeries in the last seven years.

‘Josh has got until the end of the season,’ he said.

‘The lad deserves a chance. He’s someone who is very experienced but he’s had a lot of bad, bad luck and things haven’t gone his way. No matter who you are or what you are in life you need a chance from somebody.

‘Many times in my career I’ve had a chance from different people so I think he’s worth a chance. He has been brilliant around the place so far but we’ll see where it ends up.’

Asked was he concerned about the 28-year-old’s previous knee problems, Perth said: ‘There’s no doubt that there’s a history there. We’ve taken that completely into consideration but he deserves a chance and we’ve given him a chance so we’ll see where it goes.’

Meanwhile, Cameron Dummigan has reported back to training with the club after his loan spell at Crusaders came to an end. Republic of Ireland underage goalkeeper Jimmy Corcoran has also been training with the side following his release from Preston North End. The 18-yearold Meath man could be signed as a third choice behind Gary Rogers and Aaron McCarey as he is also eligible to play at U-19 level for this season and next.