WEYMOUTH end a four-week wait between games with a clash against Chesterfield in the Vanarama National League at the Bob Lucas Stadium tomorrow (3pm).
Brian Stock’s men last played at Stockport County, when the Terras claimed a superb 2-1 win over the league favourites.
However, a serious Covid-19 outbreak swept through the team days after returning from Greater Manchester, causing a league-imposed period of self-isolation for the entire squad.
Added to Solihull Moors’ own period of isolation, Weymouth’s fixture last week was postponed meaning a 28-day gap in games.
Ahead of facing Chesterfield, who are strongly linked with Gloucester City’s James Rowe to fill their vacant manager position, Stock spoke of Weymouth’s relief at returning to the pitch.
“It’s not just myself, it’s the staff and the players,” he told Echosport.
“I’ve noticed an eagerness in training building up to the game.
“It’s all very well training, the players want to play matches in this division.
“When you’ve got the likes of a big club like Chesterfield coming to town, it’s a great occasion. In particular, these are the sorts of games you want to play in.”
Weymouth have held training sessions in bubbles of six and also staged an in-house match last weekend in a bid to shake off rustiness.
Asked if a lack of match sharpness would be a concern, Stock said: “Yeah, I’d say so.
“Postponing Yeovil was the right decision and that was put into perspective when we played an in-house game on Saturday.
“When it got to around 75, 80 minutes you could tell that quite a lot of the players were struggling physically.
“Having the virus and it affecting the whole squad really did take the stuffing out of quite a few players.
“But they reacted well from the in-house game. We had a really good training session (on Tuesday) and the lads looked good, fit, eager and ready to go.
“They understand what’s asked of them and we’re fortunate we’ve got quite a large squad, so we’re going to need to utilise that.”
Weymouth next 11 games come within 43 days and Stock added: “It’s going to be a big ask for the squad, but one we’re going to relish.”
Jack Dickson and Ade Olumuyiwa remain doubts, but Sham Mullings is available. Myles Anderson is due to play his final loan game with Hampton & Richmond on Saturday.
Following the Halifax game in which up to 800 socially-distanced fans are allowed to attend, Weymouth will host Wrexham (Dec 15), visit Boreham Wood (Dec 22) and entertain Yeovil (Jan 5) in three rearranged fixtures.
If the Terras can prove their Covid-safe measures are working, the eventual attendance cap could rise to 1,900.
