The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Coutts’season to resume with League One play-off
Covid-19: Aberdonian tolerates testing ordeal to take a tilt at Wembley glory
The testing and protocols put in place for football to return have been rigorous. Scottish Premiership clubs have only returned to training in the last week, but in England the Premier League resumes tonight and the Championship at the weekend.
The League One and Two seasons won’t be finished, however, the play-offs will be completed.
Fleetwood Town, captained by Aberdonian Paul Coutts, are gearing up for play-offs next month.
So what’s it’s like returning to training in the current climate?
The former Cove Rangers, Peterborough, Preston, Derby and Sheffield United midfielder said: “We drive in and get our temperature taken and questionnaire done while you’re still in the car.
“Then you go through the Covid-19 testing in one changing room and then go straight out onto the pitch.
“It’s not the most pleasant thing I’ve ever had. You get swabbed at the back of your throat and up your nose.
“And it’s not like the edge of your nostrils, it’s right up your nose and it feels like it’s behind your eyeballs.
“So it’s not the best experience but it’s somethingthathastobe done. It definitely puts your mind at ease. We’ve been getting tested on Mondays and Thursdays for two weeks now.
“But the doctor keeps reminding us that the test is out of date as soon as you get the results and you could catch it in between times.
“So it’s really important for us to follow the guidelines with social distancing and handwashing and being careful like everyone else.”
Fleetwood are set to take part in the League One play-offs with their semifinal against Wycombe Wanderers set to take place on July 3 and 6 behind closed doors. If Joey Barton’s side come through that tie they will play Oxford United or Portsmouth in the final at Wembley on July 13 with a place in next season’s Championship at stake.
However, restrictions to deal with coronavirus mean preparations for these crunch games haven’t been straightforward.
Coutts, 31, added: “We knew quite early on we’d be back playing one way or the other whether it was finishing the league campaign or just being in the play-offs
“We had done two-anda-half months of solid running on our own and then we come back in and there is no contact it’s just small groups and there is a bit of ball work, but there’s no five-a-sides or anything like that most of it is just individual running.
“Phase one has been small groups with no contact. Then phase two is groups of four with one coach which started this week.
“It’s difficult because they’ve planned this return to training but then the fixtures are so soon so it’s difficult to be ready.”
Fleetwood finished sixth in League One after a vote passed last week not to attempt to complete the season.
The top of England’s third tier was particularly tight with only three points between Rotherham in second and Sunderland in eighth.
Coutts said: “For us the reaction was bit mixed. Our league was so tight from second down to ninth.
“We were unbeaten in our last eight games before football was stopped.
“We were also only two points off second place and fancied ourselves to catch the top two.
“But on the flip side with it being so tight and having been off for three months we’d have taken the playoffs. Having had the break we’re pretty pleased we’ve got three games in front of us to try to get promotion.”