Shotts boss John McKeown has revealed his squad are suffering the effects of long Covid as they prepare to face Forth Wanderers on the opening day of the season next month.
The West of Scotland League revealed the fixtures for next season and the Bonny face an away trip to Forth on July 17 to kick-off Conference A, with Ashfield at home on July 21.
The club are back training after a Covid outbreak forced them to shutdown earlier this month. However, McKeown says his squad are still feeling the effects.
He said: “It’s a wee local derby to start, so that will be tough. You never get it easy going down to Forth, so it will be interesting to see how we do.
“We had a couple of boys out with Covid, so that was a wee step back.
“There’s one of two still struggling with the effects of it. They are clear to train but we need to be careful with them with long Covid. It’s a wee bit of the unknown.
”It’s a bit of an eye-opener when you see young, fit healthy lads getting it and they are still struggling.
“One of the boys has had both vaccinations, so it’s a wee bit of a reality check for me. I was thinking, we are allowed to be back training, we’ll be okay, but it shows how easily it spreads.”
After signing Martin Shiels from Stenhousemuir, the club have made their second signing by bringing in ex-Queen’s Park man Dean Kinlin.
McKeown added: “The team is starting to take shape. It’s been a long time without football and I’ve said to them it’s the best days of your life playing football, so we’ll just go out and enjoy it now.
