MELKSHAM Town manager Kieran Baggs hopes the fact he is able to keep a close eye on his troops throughout the summer with prove to be a big benefit once they start life in the Southern League.

The Town players are due to report back for pre-season training next Wednesday, with the new season beginning on August 11.

Baggs will have more than six weeks to get his squad up to speed for life at a new level following their promotion of the Toolstation League Premier Division last season.

However, the Melksham manager has been able to continue monitoring his players during out-of-season sessions at his CrossFit Civitas gym in the town, which Baggs believes has helped create a tight-knit group at the INFiLED Stadium.

“The majority of the squad are local lads and maybe 13 of the 17 or 18-man squad come to my gym in Melksham,” said Baggs.

“It means I can work with them and keep an eye on their fitness regimes, but also make sure that everyone is happy. It just helps with the communication and when you’re working on deals for players over the summer.

“It just keeps us all close together and I know well in advance about holidays in pre-season and who might be away for a certain friendly.

“That is an advantage of my profession and it’s something I like to use to keep in contact with everyone and strengthen the bond in the team.”

With the start of pre-season now less than a week away, Baggs has already put early plans in place in order to get his troops up to speed as soon as possible.

“We will have two weeks of fitness testing and we have an outside company coming in too, so we will get all the stats on the players,” said Baggs.

“That is something that will be really helpful, and we’re going down to the University of Bath for a weekend of testing as well.

“It will give me loads of data to work with for the season and I will know who needs to work on what and who has been doing their homework in the off-season.

“Hopefully it will mean we are as ready as we can be for when the competitive games begin.”