I FEEL as though I start almost every one of these columns with the phrase "It's been a busy week at the Racecourse Ground" but this week has certainly been one of particularly feverish activity.

The off-season and pre-Season are always intense periods for football clubs, but with the addition of new management teams on and off the field, construction work, navigation of a Covid-wracked reality and the massive uptick in interest in coming to see the Red Dragons next season, it's fair to say that there have been few busier periods in the club's history.

On the pitch, preparations continued for the start of the season with a trip to Fleetwood Town who hosted us very graciously at their fantastic training facility, Poolfoot Farm.

The Cod Army put together a competitive XI against whom we could test our mettle and it was great to see so much of the hard work that has been put in on the training ground translate to a great result on the pitch.

At this stage of proceedings it is much more about getting the minutes in and coming through unscathed, but putting that sensible approach to one side for a moment, it's always fun to see the boys banging them in and keeping a clean sheet, much as they did at Tamworth on Saturday.

It was also great to welcome back some of the players who had been forced to self-isolate following instances of Covid or Covid-proximity.

Phil Parkinson is currently isolating at home after a positive test, but with the wonders of modern technology, he is keeping very busy from home.

The unfortunate reality is that Covid remains a big challenge for us all to overcome and even with the many and various precautions taken it can still slide past our defences.

The club continues its conversations with the Welsh Government to ensure that we can bring fans back to the Racecourse as safely as possible, while ensuring we can bring as many as possible as well.

As soon as we know what those numbers will be, we'll make sure the fans know as well!

The season ticket response has been absolute fantastic and we are anticipating a raucous and pulsating Racecourse when the season starts.

I know that folks were queueing up from the early hours of Wednesday morning and I'd like to pay tribute to Dan Sear and his army of volunteers who staffed the ticketing desks in the Centenary Club for the unprecedented press of people clamouring for tickets.

Everybody in the building has been feeding off the positive energy that fans have brought into the Cent and Club Shop and it only helps to generate the sense that we are at the start of something very special here.