Graham Potter has confirmed that his side are fit and well and that there is a plan should a date for a resumption of the season be announced.
The head coach said, “In terms of injuries, there hasn’t been anything major. I guess that’s the good thing about not having the physical contact and the intensity that comes with training. The guys have been in regular contact with the medical and sports science departments.”
After a meeting last week, the Premier League confirmed that there will be no resumption until it is safe to do so but Potter thinks it would be unrealistic for players to emerge from hibernation and have the same levels of fitness as when the season was halted on 13th March.
“If you’re talking about fitness levels to play in the Premier League, it would be unrealistic to say that they’re at that level because they’ve been in their houses not playing football,” he added.
“So that sport-specific fitness will have dropped. What they are doing is ticking over on a fitness and psychological level.”
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The boss also discussed the idea of letting the players have some time off in the coming weeks.
“It is a consideration. Sometimes you do more harm than good doing the same stuff for too long and the guys would probably need a break to maybe focus on their families and live in a slightly different way, so you have to weigh it up.
“It is not like they can go on holiday so maybe they would still benefit from some kind of structure. It is something we will have to think about.”