Quoted by Football Insider, Noel Whelan has suggested that the return of contact training to clubs will be huge as we look to a potential restart of the current season this summer.

Teams in the Championship got back to work at the start of this week, whilst Premier League sides have also been back in action as the top two tiers look set to try and give 19/20 a chance to be played out in full.

Of course, training to start with has seen socially distanced exercises come to the fore but it appears as though the government is willing to see contact training come into play given the number of negative tests that have been confirmed among players in the top two tiers.

For Whelan, it's a huge boost for clubs like his former side Leeds United to be receiving, as they go in hunt of promotion back into the Premier League - with the top flight voting for its return today.

He said:

“It is huge.

“It shows that the testing has been good and the majority of the players have looked after themselves. That is shown by the test results and how many have come out negative.

“I think now a little bit of normality within training is a very exciting prospect.

“Players can get together and get the training done at close contact which is needed if we want to resume matches in June.”

The Verdict

This is a big step forwards for players and clubs and will give an added air of intensity to their training sessions which they'll need to get back up to match fitness.

Positive signs keep coming at the moment, and hopefully we'll be able to stay on course and get some football back soon.