ALL SYSTEMS GO!

Premier League restart gathers pace as officials back close-contact training ++ Championship clubs will return today after just two positive tests

THE English Premier League and Football League have been given the official go-ahead to accelerate plans to complete their seasons.

The British Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport have released phase two of their ‘elite sport returning to training guidance’ which enables competitive and close-contact training.

And in a further boost, the EFL’s hopes of finishing the Championship season improved yesterday after they confirmed just two individuals — both from Hull City — had tested positive from 1,014 coronavirus tests.

The developments mean it is full steam ahead for English football’s top two divisions to complete their campaigns at the beginning of a key week for Project Restart.

Managers and players are due to meet Premier League officials to discuss the phase two protocols tomorrow, with clubs voting on whether to move to the next stage of training on Wednesday.

On Thursday, there is another meeting of clubs to discuss plans for any curtailment of the season and the contentious issue of broadcasters’ rebates — which could amount to £340million.

The Premier League will conduct visits from this week to ensure that clubs are not breaking the rules set down over returning to training.

Despite a growing feeling that clubs will vote to move to phase two training, there are still issues that players and managers want clarity on in

tomorrow’s video conference calls. The Government guidelines state: ‘Due to the increased risk of transmission under Stage Two conditions, the Covid-19 officer must have a clear policy for managing a Covid-19 positive individual and abide by Government guidelines and reporting requirements.’ That has raised questions over whether the player who has tested positive — and his colleagues in a training group — would have to quarantine for two weeks, which would send a club’s preparations into disarray. For phase one, clubs have split their squads into groups of five to train together adhering to social-distancing guidelines. The next stage would see groups increase to 12 with restricted contact, including tackling. One Premier League medic told Sportsmail last night his understanding was that any player who had come into contact with someone who has tested positive would have to isolate for 14 days, and clubs would seek definitive guidance over the next 48 hours. On Saturday, the Premier League confirmed just two people had tested positive during the latest round of 996 swabs. One of the positive tests was at Bournemouth. The Premier League will hope the fact just eight people have tested positive during the first two rounds of tests will reassure players the step-by-step return to action can be accomplished safely. Meanwhile, Hull confirmed that the two positive Championship tests were within their camp, but not whether they were players or staff. The club are against restarting the season, which Sportsmail understands has caused major anger at rival clubs, who are overwhelmingly in favour of recommencing. The desire to restart is so strong, according to one source, that a vote on whether to go ahead may not even be necessary because there is no evidence a ballot would be close.

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