Sheffield United players have no safety fears over Premier League return

Several leading players in the top tier have voiced concerns about welfare, with a briefing taking place on Wednesday for top-flight players and managers.

A leading player from each club dialled into a video conference call with the Premier League, the players’ union (PFA) and Government officials for a meeting on safety and training protocols.

A separate video-call with the Premier League, managers and their union (LMA) took place in the afternoon (Wednesday).

Each club’s PFA representative has already been sent a 40-page document outlining strict training protocols, which includes a ban on tackling when group sessions resume, plans to disinfect all training gear and a plea not to spit.

Earlier this month, Blades manager Chris Wilder said he would respect the decision of any player opting not to play when football is given the go-ahead to resume.

Egan, who has returned to socially-distanced training along with his Blades colleagues, said: “We want to be back playing games. It is our bread and butter and our job.

“Obviously, it is got to be safe to do that, but the Premier League will have specialists in every area to get the best advice they can.

“Once they have a plan and it is the safest way to do, we have just got to trust them.

“The general consensus is that we are ready to finish the league and we have a team who have trained really well while this has gone on and have the hunger to go back (playing) when it is safe to do so.”

Echoing those comments, Egan’s club and international team-mate Enda Stevens added:. “You have got to have confidence in the people behind the scenes that they will come up with a plan and that it will work.

“It will be tough to come up with a plan, but you have got to have confidence and whatever plan they come up to, the players will buy into it.

“We just need to listen to the right people and they will guide us along the way.”

On what the new normal in training is like, he continued: “It is pretty disciplined.

“Cars are two metres or even further apart and you have to walk in a certain way. It’s like a maze, but it is very well organised and the system is working really well for us. There’s no complaints at our end.”

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