Andy Graves believes return to action is a mixed bag for Hucknall Town

The Yellows are expected to face Graham St Prims in their first post-lockdown match on 5th December.

But Graves believes the shine is taken off the return to action if fans are not allowed to attend the match if Notts is placed under tier 3 restrictions.

“It’s a good news in one respect but we probably won't be able to have fans, so we will be in a worse position than when we packed up,” said Graves.

“It's a positive to be back playing. We are just getting on with it and making the best of what we are given.”

The club will play an in-house training match on Wednesday 2nd December to assess fitness levels, before build-up to the weekend game begins.

Hucknall have no match on 12th December due to Rainworth being involved in the FA Vase.

Graves confirmed he would seek to organise a friendly match on the 5th if the Graham St Prims match does not go ahead

“The players are keeping fit and we are tracking who is doing what,” said Graves. “All being well we will be back on 5th December or we will have a longer wait than most.

“When we play our training match we will see what fitness is like and we will start our build up for the 5th.”

Graves also confirmed he would continue to rotate players to manage the busy spell of games and revealed he has full faith in the depth of his squad.

“I am always someone who rotates the squad when I can to keep people fresh so the players are used to that,” he said.

“We have all got floodlights and can play midweek, it's not ideal as we will miss some players .

“It would be nice to have the five subs like in the EFL to keep players happy and change things up.

“We have never not played a game because we have players out or there's no point having a squad.

“If a player isn't available hopefully someone in the squad can fit in. We don't make excuses and use the squad.

“I’m happy with the depth we have. We have got a good nucleus of 16-17 and the reserves has some good young lads who could do a job.”