DEL: CORMACK PARK GIVES DONS SPARK
DEREK McINNES put his Aberdeen squad through their first day of training since lockdown and insisted Cormack Park has been heaven sent.
The facility has allowed the Dons to return safely and adhere to the Covid-19 safety measures.
It is the first time the Reds have been able to use their new £14million training base for pre-season as it was only opened back in October.
Players elsewhere have raised concerns over the safety issues of a return to training but McInnes admitted the Dons have done everything they possibly can and that includes testing, which doesn’t need to come in until the next phase.
The Aberdeen manager said: “I need to praise the club. They’ve done a brilliant job in ensuring the measures have been put in place in terms of equipment.
“Up to last week we were still waiting to hear whether the testing capability would be there which is why we pushed back training to Monday.
“We are at a position now where we have a safe environment and can guarantee the safe monitoring of everyone. The staff were all tested on Sunday and we started 24 hours later.
“I have to thank our medical staff, Dr Gary Ritchie and Adam Stokes, our head of medical, have done a brilliant job in ensuring the preparation for training has been done.
“We were at the training ground on Thursday to go over the protocols which are now in place and we had a Zoom call with the players on Friday to go
BY SCOTT BURNS through the procedures we all have to follow to ensure the early training sessions run smoothly.”
The multiple training pitches and facilities mean that McInnes was able to have his entire firstteam training at the same time in small groups.
The only exceptions were Matty Kennedy, who had to get an ankle injection, and Curtis Main, who has to get a tidy-up knee operation.
McInnes said: “We’ve restricted space and social distancing measures to follow due to the current guidelines in place but it won’t stop us doing our work.
“There are a specific number of players who can be on a pitch at any one time.
“As it stands, we are permitted to have eight players on a pitch at any one time.
“Had we not been at Cormack Park it would not have been possible for everyone to work at the same time.”
The Premiership clubs hope the Scottish Government will give them permission to train in larger groups by the end of the week, if the lockdown is taken into the next phase.
McInnes said: “Hopefully by Friday the Scottish Government will have sanctioned a move to phase two which will give us a little more freedom.
“Had we not been at Cormack Park it would’ve been a challenge. The practicalities of working somewhere else would have presented more of a challenge so we’re grateful to have the space and privacy to do our work at Cormack Park.”