NEW Forest Green boss Mark Cooper cast his eye over his players for the first time yesterday (Wednesday) as the club’s pre-season got underway at a rain-soaked Royal Agricultural University.

The squad kicked off their preparation for the new National League term with fitness work at their training ground on the outskirts of Cirencester.

Cooper put his team through their paces alongside assistant manager Scott Lindsey, fitness coach Tom Huelin and goalie coach Steve Hale.

Cooper said: “It was nice to get the boys back in training and to get through the session without any bumps or bruises and obviously the rain helped and softened the ground up as it would usually be red hot and 100 degrees, so we managed to get some good work done.”