Summer football is not Leon’s cup of tea

But, he confesses, summer football does not appeal to him as a norm.

As Saints returned to first-team training at Blanche Pierre Lane this week amid the restrictions imposed, Meakin spoke of his desire to land all the available silverware in the coming two and a half to three months, whatever timeframe is required to complete the season.

‘Long term I wouldn’t be for it to be honest. Short term, we are in a very unique position where we have had grass-roots football for most of the season and the season has to be finished.

‘There needs to be football for youngsters in this island and the last year and a half have been really disruptive.

‘I’m a big fan of getting this season finished, whether it’s into June or end of June. It’s a one-off, hopefully, but going forward football is a winter sport. Yes, there are problems with it, but it’s a winter sport for me.’

Meakin’s men are still in all the cups, as well as the thick of a three-way title race, so if they go all the way in the cups, a busy spring and early summer beckons for the lads in black-and-white. But regular football will be good for his team, he says.

‘It’s tight [in the league]. The season has proved that pretty much anybody can beat anybody in the league. There’s a lot of football to play and a lot of twists and turns along the way.

‘We perform better when we play week in, week out and up to the end of June we are going to have games coming thick and fast. This group will react to that.’

On the first night back, Saints had Colin Fallaize in charge of the fitness work and the one-time Saints striker encountered a group in decent shape despite the break.

Meakin said it has been easier to cope this time around.

‘The six-week lay-off hasn’t been frustrating as last year was when we knew, that was it and everything cancelled. But having gone through Covid last year we thought there would light at the end of the tunnel and maybe in a couple of months we would be playing again.

‘My frustration is that when we do play again it will be only our fourth game in four months. The season has been really staggered for us as there was a long period before went into lockdown that we didn’t play.

‘We have let them [the players] have a bit if a rest from football, but the last two weeks we have set them two or three physical challenges a week and asked them to post them. The majority bought into that and it’s been quite good.’