By Sibongiseni Zondi | 2018-06-13

SOCCER- MTN Premier League sides are gearing up to start pre-season training in the coming weeks.

Today marks a month since the 2017/18 season was completed with the last round of MTN Premier League matches played on May 13. With the 2018/19 season set to kick-off in mid-August with the SPTC Charity Cup, the country’s top sides are already preparing to get back to training in the coming weeks.

Mbabane giants Swallows and Highlanders will be the earliest to return, with both sides returning to training next week Monday. For Swallows, the pressing issue is the CAF Champions League where they will host Tunisian side Etoile Du Sahel on July 17. In an interview last week, Swallows coach Thabo ‘Koki’ Vilakati said the seven ‘Birds’ stars who took part in the recently concluded COSAFA Cup would join training at a later stage.

At Highlanders’ extra-ordinary meeting on Sunday, it was announced that the side would return to training next Monday where the technical team will also asses trialists. Interviewed yesterday, Royal Leopard PRO Frank Hurube said they were most likely to return to training next week.

“For now we don’t have a set date because most of our players are busy with the elections registration. But that ends on Sunday so we hope that probably by next week we will be able to return to training. We know that time is running out and we don’t want to be left behind,” Hurube said.

Meanwhile, having played in the Bible Society Cup on Saturday, Manzini Wanderers say they will most likely return to training on July 2. “We are likely to resume on July 2. You will remember that when the season ended, we gave our players two weeks off and then they came back to prepare for the Bible Society Cup. So, even now we will give them another two weeks off,” Wanderers CEO Pat Mahlalela said in an interview yesterday. But armed forces sides Green Mamba and Young Buffaloes said they had no set dates for the start of their pre-season training when also contacted yesterday.

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