CRAIG Brown joined the North End squad for the start of pre-season training yesterday (Wednesday) and said he was happy to be back on the training ground.

He said: "It has been a long wait and it will be good to meet with all the players together. The players I have met have been extremely enthusiastic and I can't wait to work with them regularly.

"They've all been doing a lot of work over the summer.

"This is what football people like doing the most, working with the players on the training field, seeing their enthusiasm and enjoyment.

"They've worked hard with Kelham and Baz over the summer and Kelham has prepared a very good pre-season schedule.

"We hope it will be enjoyable for them.

"I am not a believer that you should just be running round the pitch over and over, so the work will be done particularly with the ball."

He added that fans will be impressed with the skills of recent signing Ricardo Fuller.

"He is an extremely skillful player can do remarkable things with the ball.

"He has great flair, he's unpredictable and he's got pace -- that's not a bad combination!

"And I know Hearts were desperate to keep him but they couldn't because of their financial situation.

"The things he does in training are amazing but more importantly he can transfer those skills to match situations which is the really hard part. I'm sure the fans will take to him."