SPORT HARRIS WARNS LEAGUE CHIEFS OF BURN-OUT

CARDIFF City boss Neil Harris insists he’s “extremely confident that the current season will be completed, but has warned that players could risk being burned out if the calendar is not properly managed.

The EFL season has been further suspended until April 30 due to the current coronavirus outbreak, after originally pencilling in April 3 as a potential return date.

Doubts remain over whether the footballing calendar will pick up again during the new timeframe, and there has been a big debate over what to do with the rest of the current campaign.

Some have suggested that the season should be declared null and void, but it’s emerged that the preference among Championship clubs is to finish the season,.

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Harris says he’s continuing preparations for Cardiff’s last nine games, adding that he is convinced the current campaign will be allowed to finish, although he admits that the resulting fixture congestion does risk burning players out.

He said: “We’ve been given a guideline that the season might start again on Saturday, May 2, so of course it’s important to be working towards that. But as we’ve seen that’s not set in stone at the moment.

“Things are so fast moving and so changeable that that could be a month later.

“So we’re second guessing things a little, but what we do know is that when the season does recommence

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– and it will – I’m extremely confident that this season will finish before the next one begins.

“Whenever that is, we’ll have to see. But it will finish and we have to make sure we’re ready for it. But we can’t keep training now individually, get back training as a group, play the games, finish one season and then have a week off before starting again.

“That will just lead to meltdown within players and squads come December and January. There has to be a rest and recuperation time between one season and the next.”

Harris says the club are currently following EFL guidelines in dealing with the virus, with only injured players allowed near the training ground, where they are undergoing one-on-one sessions with physiotherapists.

“Health-wise the lads are OK,” he added. “We have got players and staff who are isolating at the moment. So they’re not at the training ground.

“Nobody’s had a positive test for the coronavirus within our immediate group. But, as we know, that doesn’t mean we’ve not all sampled it or have got it.

“At the moment there’s no contact with anybody apart from individual physios seeing individual players coming back from injuries, and they’re coming in at separate times during the week.” Cardiff City boss Neil Harris says he expects the Championship season to be completed