CONWY Borough manager Matthew Jones is hoping a fundraising event can add additional fitness to his squad when the JD Cymru North hopefully begins next month.

The Tangerines decided to get together and lend their support to George Melling, who was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, regarding a charity challenge that has already raised more than £5,000 for the MND Association and The Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience following a flood of donations.

Jones, who is hoping for some good news regarding a return to training in the not-too-distant future, is hoping his talented squad can raise their fitness level and awareness in the process for Melling, a popular figure who is a close friend of Borough assistant manager Stuart Howson.

He said: “In terms of training, we are waiting on further news from the government before getting the green light, but the lads are raring to go and looking forward to it.

“The players have been keeping fit over this period, and also in March we will be completing a fundraising event for George Melling, good friend to Stuart Howson, who has been diagnosed with MND. This will also be a great way for us all to get fitness levels up and raise awareness.”

Jones is keen for his squad to prepare for a campaign that will look completely different thanks to COVID-19 restrictions, which have caused every level below the top two tiers in Welsh football into a cancelled season.

He has built a squad capable of playing two games a week when needed over the 15-game schedule and Jones stated his group of players is raring to go following such a long period of inactivity.

“It’s certainly going to be a different season, but getting the season into a short period of time is also a brilliant challenge as a coach and I know that the players will enjoy having games in quick succession,” he added.

“When I used to play summer league, which was two games a week, I used to love it and I think the players will be the same. We’ve got good numbers in the squad also which means we can rotate if needed.

“We really are hopeful we can get going, we are so excited about getting back to playing.”

Anyone wishing to donate towards the fundraiser can do so here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/helping-big-g-aka-george-melling-fight-mnd