Preston North End are in constant communication with their players who have been asked to train at home due to the recent health pandemic.

The country has gone into what can be described as a lockdown for the foreseeable future as the nation tries to tackle the pandemic which has had many effects on aspects on everyday life. One of those changes has seen the suspension of the EFL until April the 30^th at the very earliest, which has caused huge confusion amongst the footballing industry.

Many clubs are putting into place a contingency plan to make sure that their players are staying on top of their fitness as well as stopping the possibility of the illness spreading amongst their squad. Preston North End are just one of those clubs with the playing staff being told to work from home until the club can plan a return to training in the coming weeks.

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Peter Ridsdale, advisor to the Preston owner Trevor Hemmings, talked through the plan that the football club are currently undergoing to remain in contact with their playing staff. He told the Lancashire Post: “Every day the players have to contact our club doctor. As a club we have to put together a daily register for the EFL.

“You have to report how every player is, whether they are healthy, showing symptoms or is self-isolating. Every club is doing that because the EFL want to build a picture of the state of play everywhere so they can start to plan for an eventual return.

“They are trying to see when clubs will have their strongest squads available. It is a sensible monitoring process and simple to do. With no matches being played it doesn’t look like there is much going on. Behind the scenes though, there is a lot happening.”

North End will have a lot to play for when the season finally resumes as they chase down a place in the Championship play-offs. The club are yet to take part in the Premier League, which was formed in 1992, with Preston floating around the Championship and League One since its introduction to the game.

Alex Neil’s side sit in sixth place in the table but are only slightly ahead of the chasing pack with Bristol City, Millwall and Cardiff City all within striking distance of the Lilywhites. With nine games left to play there is set to be many more twists and turns before the play-off picture is finally decided.

The Verdict

It is good for high ranking members of the EFL clubs coming out and telling everybody what plans they have put in place to deal with the health crisis that we are currently facing. The plans that Preston have undergone are very sensible as they look to remove the threat of the pandemic from their playing staff who still have a lot to play for in the current season.

At this very moment in time the club have an opportunity to make history by winning promotion to the Premier League and have given themselves every chance of finishing in a play-off place come the end of the season. Neil’s side have been massively impressive on numerous occasions this season and it is unlikely that other clubs could argue that they deserve a shot at promotion.