WE MUST GET SET FOR LONG BATTLE AHEAD...

HUNKER down. Beat coronavirus. Everyone back to work on April 3. It all sounds very neat and tidy.

But nobody in football should kid themselves. There is almost no chance that the season will restart in three weeks.

Speaking to US podcaster Joe Rogan on Friday, renowned infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm said that coronavirus is “a winter, not a blizzard”.

“The pain, suffering and death we’ve suffered so far - that is just the beginning,” he added. “This is going to unfold for months to come, and that is what many people don’t seem to understand.”

On Friday, there were 208 new cases of coronavirus in the UK, the single biggest rise since the crisis began. Very soon, cases are likely to double every four days. With that will come distancing measures, and government restrictions on public gatherings.

Even those, Osterholm reasons, are a temporary fix; that when unaffected people emerge from isolation, a fresh wave of covid will erupt.

The football authorities, then, must start thinking - now about how the season can be resolved if a complete cancellation becomes inevitable.

Premier League clubs have vast resources and can afford to play behind closed doors. Yet very few EFL sides can shoulder the cost of a bunch of games without matchday income.

Andy Holt, the Accrington chairman, has already said he will refuse to play behind closed doors ‘under any circumstances’ and is supported in that stance by several of his peers.

It is hardly satisfactory to complete one league and not others, especially with promotion and relegation places to decide. And what if all the players are ill anyway? It is an unprecedented problem and there are no easy answers. But these are not easy times.