BRIAN Stock proudly reflected on his first season in charge of Weymouth and joked: “It feels like it’s gone on forever!”

Stock joined the Terras in September 2020 following the departure of previous boss Mark Molesley to Southend United.

Consequently, Stock missed almost a month of vital training to impart ideas and tactics on his squad plus important fitness work ahead of the National League season.

The squad was affected by Covid-19 in November before a busy January transfer window helped turn fortunes around – the Terras finishing above the bottom three on merit in 18th.

Speaking to Echosport, Stock said of his first season: “It feels like it’s gone on forever!

“The whole club needs a really good rest. The players and staff have done not necessarily what they’re contracted to do for the club.

“They’ve come out of that comfort zone, put extra time in and we’ve reaped the rewards.

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“If there’s anything to take from that, for me it’s the fact that we’ve highlighted one or two things in the January transfer window.

“We’ve brought players in, highlighted that accommodation would be key and it turned our season around.

“It brought a level of fitness that (meant) we could compete at this level.

“We need to make sure that when we recruit we have players that come in who can do that week in, week out.”

Weymouth rounded off their campaign with a 4-0 loss at Hartlepool.

Happy to look back on the season, he added: “I came into the club having missed out on two or three weeks of very crucial training and pre-season running.

“This now will give me a nice run-up into next year. We’ll have a good pre-season and secure some facilities that will give a professional feel to it. We’ll try and add more days in to get more contact time so we’re fit, ready and stronger for next year.”

Weymouth have meanwhile announced a home pre-season friendly with Swindon Town on Saturday, July 24.