Elliott praises Boston United squad's 'first class' attitude as training resumes... and tells players to appreciate their football more after pandemic-hit seasons

United are back in training. Photo: Oliver Atkin

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'No time to waste' in bid to become fittest side in National League North...

Craig Elliott has praised the 'first class' attitude of Boston United s squad after they reported back for pre-season training.

The Pilgrims will return to Doncaster's Keepmoat set-up for session number three this evening after meeting up on Thursday and Saturday.

"We had two really tough sessions last week," Elliott said.

"The lads have been worked hard but shown good attitude and it's good to be back.

"We did the (fitness) testing a few weeks ago, we were happy with the results, but there's a lot of running and hard work to be done now. But the attitude is first class and I'm really happy with them all."

Elliot wants his squad to be the 'fittest' in the National League North as he looks to gain an edge on rivals, with hill runs around the training compound almost the stuff of legend for players reporting back from the summer break these days.

"There's no easy way of doing this, we've got to get stuck into it," Elliott added.

"We've got 14 training sessions before the season starts so we can't waste any time.

"We got stuck into the running and the hills, and they come back on Saturday.

"If we do seven to 10 days of hard work and then work on the tactical side of things it'll be all good.

"I talked to the players about (Covid affecting the last two seasons) making you appreciate football more and not taking it for granted.

"We've got to enjoy training and getting fit as it's what we've missed. I'd like to think there's a different outlook now as we've had so long without it.

"Myself personally, I'm determined to appreciate it more."

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