PFA STUCK WITH VIRTUAL REALITY

PLAYERS will be denied their end-of-season knees-up for the third year in row with the Professional Footballers’ Association again opting to run their annual awards as a virtual event. While most end-of-season dinners have returned this year, the PFA were unable to guarantee a date due to uncertainty over Covid — and the resultant fixture backlog — so their awards will take place online on June 9. Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is favourite to win the Players’ Player of the Year Award for the second time, with Kevin De Bruyne his only real rival. The Manchester City midfielder would become the first player to win the award three times if he tops the poll of his fellow professionals to clinch the Premier League’s most coveted individual honour for a third successive season.