Elgin City goalkeeper Thomas McHale was encouraged by his side’s 0-0 friendly draw against Forfar as they gear up for the restart of League Two.
The Borough Briggs side will host Edinburgh City on Saturday when they return to action.
Scottish football below the Championship was suspended on January 11 due to the rising number of coronavirus cases across the county but the leagues have been given the green light to recommence on March 20.
Elgin travelled to Station Park to take on the Loons in a goalless stalemate on Saturday afternoon as they stepped up their preparations and McHale felt it was a valuable exercise.
He said: “It was nice to be back.
“The game could have gone either way but both teams were pleased with how it turned out.
“The boys got some good minutes in the legs and it was a good team performance.
“We can take the positives from a clean sheet and the way we played.
“The boys have all addressed the situation very well and overcome the barriers we have faced.
“We are all looking forward to the next few weeks. It is going to be a busy schedule.
“We have only been back to training for three sessions but I spoke to a few of the boys this morning and they were feeling good.
“The break may have done us good.
“It feels like the start of a new season.”
The teams in League One and Two have stated their preference is to finish the season with a 22-game campaign, incorporating a split after the second round of fixtures are completed.
Elgin are sitting second in League Two after nine games – five points behind leaders Queen’s Park.
McHale added: “We don’t know yet if we will be playing 18 or 22 games yet but we will do whatever they ask us to do.
“We know what we have to do and what we are capable of as a squad.
“Everyone is in the same situation.
“We just have to perform every week and hope for the best.
“It will be a tough run of fixtures. We have three home games coming up with Edinburgh City then Ayr United in the Scottish Cup and Stirling Albion.
“We feel they are three winnable games but they are going to be three extremely tough fixtures.
“It is an exciting game and everyone is buzzing to have the games back.”
TEAM NEWS ⚽
This is how we line up for our friendly against Forfar this afternoon. Kick off is at 2pm.
Come on City 🖤🤍 pic.twitter.com/eR6uUvx9mc
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) March 13, 2021