‘Light at the end of the tunnel’ for Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder as Premier League set to vote

Players and bosses from top-flight clubs were briefed on proposals for the reintroduction of contact training yesterday, with club executives due to vote on them at a shareholders’ meeting today.

Giving the green light to stage two of training will be another landmark moment in the league’s ‘Project Restart’ plans, with a return to action in mid-June being the ultimate goal.

Premier League players returned to small-scale non-contact training last week and Wilder – who has been enthused by the largely seamless return to competitive action in the German top-flight – is anxious for contact training to begin ‘as quickly as possible’ in the top-flight.

He said: “There’s an enormous amount of enthusiasm in this country to watch football and I think (the Bundesliga) is a great gauge of what the Premier League will be like when we get back.

“There are an awful lot of opinions flying about, but thankfully there is a light at the end of the tunnel that we can all get back to normality in terms of our working. The authorities are obviously trying to get through phase one as quickly as possible, they talked about it as a minimum of seven days and if it goes to plan, they will assess it,” he added.

The Premier League proposals for contact training will be based on guidance published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on Monday.

That guidance recommends contact being gradually built up, first among clusters of two to three players, increasing to groups of four to 12 players before ultimately a return to full team training.

It also recommends meticulous record-keeping of any close contact – defined as anything which occurs within the two-metre social distancing boundary – so that in the event of a positive test, contacts can easily be traced.

Testing will continue to take place twice a week, with the next set of Premier League results due to be published today.

If the contact training protocols are approved, a further shareholders’ meeting is scheduled for tomorrow when clubs will look at wider issues.

Stage one training – involving small groups observing social distancing – was introduced last Tuesday, the day after clubs voted in favour of the protocols.

These will include possibly settling on a restart date, further discussions on the use of neutral venues, considerations around the broadcast of matches and talks on what should happen if the season has to be 
curtailed.

Meanwhile, the EFL board will meet today to confirm a date for voting on how to finish the season.

Last week, chairman Rick Parry laid out a draft framework to write points per game (PPG) into the league’s rules if the remaining commitments of 2019-20 are unable to be fulfilled and the season is curtailed.

All 71 clubs in all three divisions will receive a finalised copy of Parry’s framework following today’s board meeting.

A majority of 51 per cent from the EFL’s 71 clubs is required for changes in regulations.

Former Blades goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has reportedly tested positive to coronavirus days after his club Bournemouth announced an unnamed player had contracted Covid-19.

The 22-year-old told SunSport that he was asymptomatic and had returned a negative test on May 18 before testing positive on Friday.

There were two positive tests from the latest round of Covid-19 testing among Premier League players and staff, with the other test coming from a different club.

Ramsdale, who has become Bournemouth’s first choice goalkeeper this term, told the Sun he believed he had caught the virus at the supermarket.

“It’s definitely a shock - I’ve not been in contact with anybody and I’ve now got it,” he said.

“I’m showing no symptoms so the fact that a healthy young person could potentially have it is definitely scary and worrying.”

The player, who has been capped at under-21 level for England, has isolated at his Bournemouth home with his partner since his diagnosis.

He will need to pass another test after the seven-day quarantine period before returning to training.

He said: “When you know you haven’t had it, and you’ve just been following the rules and only gone to the shop, that was obviously scary at first.

“Now I’m in the realisation that I’ve got it.”

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