The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Aberdeen adjusting to new way of training
● McInnes hails Cormack Park as vital in making return viable
Pre-season training is back but not as they know it for the Aberdeen players.
Members of the Dons first-team squad were put through their paces at Cormack Park yesterday by manager Derek McInnes and his coaching staff.
But in an unprecedented year it is clear an unprecedented training programme is going to be required – one which involves regular testing for Covid-19 and social distancing.
A new set of challenges for football clubs but one McInnes is confident can be successfully navigated in the months ahead.
He said: “I need to praise the club. They have 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 this week.
“We’re at a position now where we have a safe environment and can guarantee the safe monitoring of everyone.
“We’ve done all we can. “The staff were all tested on Sunday.
“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 through the procedures we all have to follow to ensure the early training sessions all run smoothly.
“We have 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 is a specific number of players who can be on a pitch at any one time and that will be the case for the first four days.”
Cormack Park, which was officially opened by former Dons boss Sir Alex Ferguson on October 31 last year, could not have been better timed.
McInnes believes the Dons could have overcome the hurdles they now face but is relieved he can now count on the training
“Staff were all tested on Sunday”
ground and community hub during the pandemic.
He said: “Had we not been at Cormack Park it would have been a challenge.
“Our hub would have been the Barracks at Bridge of Don and it would have been three sessions a day.
“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.
“As it is stands we are permitted to have eight players on a pitch at any one time. You are talking about two players working per quarter of a pitch. Had we not been at Cormack