WEYMOUTH manager Mark Molesley wants his Terras squad in the “best possible shape” ahead of the new season as his players report back for testing today.

The Terras have so far secured 12 players for the 2024/25 National League South campaign and will assess trialists and under-23s this summer.

First up for Weymouth is an initial review of their squad’s fitness, after which sessions will be tailor-made to work on the finer details.

And Molesley is also confident the Terras will arrive back at training, this summer held at Canford School, in good condition.

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He told Echosport: “We’re obviously going to get back in and start testing, see where they’re at.

“We’ll get their fitness levels and I trust that hopefully they’ve been looking after themselves all summer.

“They’ve had a bit of a plan to follow in the off-season to hopefully get some rest but also look after themselves, then come back in pre-season in good shape.

“I’m confident all the lads will, we’ve signed some really good characters.

“Then, it’s preparing them for the rigours ahead this season. We’ve got 12 signed now, so it’s more than the skeleton of the group together.

“We’ve got to put a little more meat on the bones and we’ll use pre-season to run our eye over a couple and potentially add a few more faces to the group.

“But, I’m really pleased with what’s in the building to start pre-season and I can’t wait to get to work with them, to be honest.

“I really enjoyed my time with them at the back end of last season and we’ve made some good additions to that as well.”

Molesley is also wary of the increased standard at Step 2 level, with most clubs making a string of impressive additions to their rosters for 2024/25.

“We’re going to have to work hard in pre-season because this league each year ramps up again,” he said.

“This is probably going to be one of the most difficult (National League) South seasons.

“Navigating the summer and speaking to other managers and teams, it’s going to be hugely competitive this year.

“There’s quite a few full-time sides and a lot of large budgets running around.

“We’ve got to keep making those marginal gains as much as we can.

“So, we’ll be working as hard as we can on the training ground to put us in the best possible shape for the start of the season.”

Weymouth's first friendly of the summer comes at Hamworthy Rec on Thursday, July 4 (7.45pm).