FOOTBALL teams across East Lothian are anxiously awaiting news on whether they will get the green light to return to training and matches.

Competitive football and training from below the Scottish Championship – the second tier of the country’s football pyramid – was suspended in the second week of January.

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) announced last month that football would be suspended until midnight on February 14 at the earliest.

An update is expected to be made on Wednesday, with each of East Lothian’s six senior teams – Dunbar United, Haddington Athletic, Musselburgh Athletic, Ormiston, Preston Athletic and Tranent Juniors – keen to discover their fate.

Geoff Jones, Dunbar manager, said everyone would be keeping an eye on social media and websites for an announcement next week.

However, even in the best-case scenario of an immediate return to training, he felt it would be premature to see teams back on the pitch straight away.

He said: “I cannot believe they would expect everybody to start a week after whatever date we restart.”

The manager was concerned about the possibility of players suffering muscular injuries, with his team not having played a game since December 29.

He said: “I think we would be looking at a minimum of two weeks [between the first training session and games].

“Obviously, the longer it goes, you need to look at more time.

“It would be ridiculous to come back and play within a week.”

Joe Hamill, player/manager at Haddington Athletic, shared similar feelings and was keen to see an announcement from the SFA.

Players at teams throughout the country are continuing to keep their fitness levels up by going on solo runs.

However, Hamill stressed that was not the same as being match fit, something which only came from playing competitive football.

The Millfield men are still unbeaten in the East of Scotland Football League First Division Conference A but have not played a league contest since a 3-1 win over Rosyth on December 5.

Hamill said: “It will be 12 weeks [at the beginning of March] since the last time I kicked a ball against BSC Glasgow in the Scottish Cup.

“I got sent off and that was my last game alongside Guy McGarry and a few others.

“This time around, the shutdown has been harder to deal with.

“I don’t know if it is whether we cannot train and I know everybody is in the same boat but I feel this one is a lot harder.”