XI'AN - China's second-tier football club Chang'an Athletic resumed training in Xi'an's neighboring city Weinan on Wednesday, after finishing four training sessions outside home province amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The team's first training session back in northwest China's Shaanxi province since December 2019, started at 3:00 pm. The 90-minute class was open to media and fans.

"When I started to coach the team in December [2019], I found out that many players didn't have good physical abilities or technical skills. I boosted their abilities during these months," said Kim Bong-Gil, the head coach of Chang'an.

When talking about the team's goal in the 2020 season, the South Korean coach told Xinhua that he aimed at keeping Chang'an Athletic at 9th of the 16-team standings, the same in the season 2019.

"In 2021, We expect to make some progress," Kim said.

Defender Wang Weipu, who joined the club on March 26, said coach Kim brought many new things to Chang'an Athletic.

"Our head coach asks us to play nice, attractive football with short passes on the floor. He stresses passing and moving," said Wang.

"He also asks us defenders to move forward, to press our opponents harder," he added.

Although the COVID-19 situation eased considerably in China, the Chinese Football Association didn't announce the new season schedule of China's second division league. Chang'an Athletic will continue training in the next few days.

"The pandemic has imposed a big impact on us, physically and emotionally. But our team has helped us improve our situations by adjusting the training load and giving us more holidays," Wang told Xinhua.

"I hope I could have more appearances in the new season through my hard work during the training sessions. And I'd like to celebrate the victories with Shaanxi fans on each matchday," Wang said.