ADAM Peek says he cannot wait for Southend Manor’s pre-season preparations to get underway.

The Essex Senior League side are due to hold their first training session of the summer tomorrow.

And Peek is hoping that returning a week earlier than last year will prove dividends.

The Manor boss said: “We’re back in training tomorrow and I can’t wait to get back with the lads.

“When you finish the season like we did by claiming five wins out of the last eight outings, you just want to get back out there.

“We have looked at where we went wrong last season and availability proved to be the problem.

“Because of that I am keen to have a consistent 18-man squad throughout the season.

“That is the challenge and if we can do that then we will be more competitive than we were last season.

“We are bringing the players back for the start of pre-season a week earlier than last year and all of the boys are looking forward to being back together.”

And there will be some fresh faces for the first training session.

Manor hosted a trials day which attracted widespread interest.

Peek and his coaching staff put trialists through their paces with the reward being a possible place in Manor’s side for the upcoming campaign.

And Peek is pleased with how his squad is shaping up with a month-and-a-half to go until the big kick-off.

Peek, who has been in charge at Southchurch Park since November 2017, added: “We always hold a trials day because we can’t attract the type of players other clubs can.

“Every year we are hopeful that we can find some hidden gems in the trials day.

“We normally have a lot of 18 and 19-year-olds that come to it and we had 33 in the end for this year’s trials day.

“Seven of those have been invited to come in for pre-season so that we can look at them a bit more.

“They will be given a chance to impress during the close season and it is up to them to earn a place in my squad.

“We have 10 of the players who finished the season with us still here, while some others could still stay.

“Our squad is shaping up nicely and I’m quietly confident at the moment.”