IT doesn't seem two minutes since we were bidding farewell to an amazing season.

Now pre-season has kicked off in earnest, and it's great to be back!

The lads have had a chance to unwind and reflect on all their achievements over a well-earned summer break.

But I'm happy to report they've come back in great shape and are raring to go again.

It's not just a new season we're preparing for it's a new adventure, for many of the players, and the club as a whole.

There have been a couple of distractions while we've been waiting to get back to business most notably Yeovil's interest in Gary Roberts.

To be honest, he's a young lad who had his head turned by the League One side's offer. No-one blames him for wanting to better himself, but I think he was badly advised in the whole process.

But since he has returned to training with us he's been fully focused on doing his best for Accrington Stanley.

And, in my opinion, he proved that in Saturday's first friendly against Burnley.

The final result wasn't what we were hoping for at half-time after we'd gone into the break 2-0 up. But there were plenty of positives to take out of the performance.

I thought Gary and Andy Mangan were lively in a first half that we dominated, against what I imagine will be close to the back four Burnley will kick-off the season with too!

Julien N'Da looked very good at the back. Class, in fact, as he cruised through the first half.

Michael Welch looked very good after completing his new deal with us. He knows that if he is fit and on top of his game there won't be many better than him in League Two next season.

A couple of the trialists impressed also. Jason Walker seemed to have something about him, Simeon Howell broke the play up well and got about the pitch and Chris Sargeant is also probably worth another look.

While the result was disappointing last night, it was a good opportunity for us to look at a few more trialists, and Saturday's game at Bootle will be the same exercise.

Results haven't gone our way at this early stage of pre-season. But fans will remember it was a similar story last year too. And I think we'd all accept the same end result again!