Kendal Town boss Chris Humphrey said he respects the decision to curtail the Northern Premier League season – and is now looking forward to preparing for the next campaign.

The decision to end the season prematurely for the second time in a row was not unexpected and some planning had already been under way at the club.

Humphrey believes the situation could have been handled differently but said that it was 'understandable'.

He said: “We did think this might have happened but we weren’t 100 per cent sure, so well in advance we started putting plans in place to be ready in case this happened.

“All we have to do now is just go back to those plans and continue on from there.

“I believe they could have finished things a bit differently, in that we could have maybe seen two games or even three games a week.

“I don’t think anyone would have minded because we’ve been out for so long now, everyone just wants to get back into it.

“We could have got them back playing and banged the games out. I don’t think it could have caused much drama among people.

“However, the decision has been made and we respect it. There’s a lot of things at play with these things so it's understandable why the season had to be voided.

“If we could have got straight back into it on March 29, then they might have considered it, but since we can’t that has to be considered.

Humphrey said his players had been working hard at home and looking after their fitness in case the season was able to resume, but admitted that it would have been difficult to go straight into action with them not being match fit.

“Those heavy fixtures need to be prepared for so we will use the time we have now to build toward that," he said.

“It’s not a negative, it's a positive as far as I’m concerned because we have time and a chance to use it well.

“We would need friendlies. Get everyone on the pitch for 60 minutes, then 80, and then play for the full game so everyone is ready.

“Jumping in heavy fixtures so soon wouldn’t have been the smartest move.

“We would like to try and arrange some friendlies as soon as possible.

“We have got the Bill Robson Cup, which we’re two games into so far, and hopefully we can get Kendal Town Reserves involved because I’m sure they’re in the mood for some play.

“I would like to get hold of Lancaster and see if some other teams might like to play some games when we’re allowed to.

“The thing I was disappointed about was the length of time we were kept in limbo.

“No one likes that.

“But now at least it does give managers and clubs a bit of peace of mind knowing that the pressure is off a little and we know where we stand.

“We’re doing fine. Our chairman is getting the sponsorships in and is making sure everything is right for when we can actually get back to playing. Things will get normal soon I hope. Until then just plan ahead as best you can.”