RODGERS REMAINS QUIETLY CONFIDENT

under way with back-to-back races in Austria, the first on July 5. But chief executive Chase Carey warned there’s “significant potential” for further cancellations. The hope is to squeeze 15 to 18 races into the truncated season, ending with Bahrain and Abu Dhabi in December. Fans will initially be banned and will be absent from Silverstone if the circuit gets the go-ahead to hold races in August.

LEICESTER CITY are giving themselves the silent treatment in their quest for a Champions League slot.

Brendan Rodgers’ men plan a series of behind-closed-doors friendlies to get used to the hush of empty grounds when Premier League action returns.

The Foxes, champions in 2016 (top), go into Project Restart third in the table and well-fancied to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Rodgers (left) said: “We’ll look at trying to prepare as best we can for that. We’ll have some practice games at the King Power Stadium, so they’ll feel and get a sense of that.

“The game is not the same. It’s absolutely not. However, it’s what we have to do. The commitment and intensity of the players will still be there, though.”

Rodgers added: “We’d obviously love our supporters to be there as well but there won’t be any. However, we’ll have a cause we’ll be fighting for.

“They may not be with us in the stadium but there’ll be millions of people watching, thousands of Leicester City supporters around the world watching, so we have a duty to do the best we can.”