Preston North End advisor Peter Ridsdale has revealed that the club will follow the EFL's advice with the date they have set for their players to return to training.

It was revealed last week that Football League chairman Rick Parry had written to all 71 Championship, League One and League Two clubs, advising them not to return to training until the 16th May, with the view of completing the rest of the campaign during a 56 day period over the course of the summer months.

Judging by Ridsdale's latest comments, that is something that Preston believe could be a feasible way of completing the campaign.

Speaking to the Lancashire Evening Post, the former Leeds chairman - who is now an advisor to North End owner Trevor Hemmings - said: “We have worked out a timetable based on being back on May 16.

The individual fitness programmes they’ve been doing will be ramped up to make sure they are not coming back cold.

“Coming back on May 16 is with an assumption that games will start on the first weekend of June. That would fit in with the season being finished in the 56-day period which Rick Parry mentioned in the letter.

“If we are working towards a start in the first weekend of June, coming back on May 16 would give the players three weeks to get match fit. This gives us something to work towards and of course, everything will be done with Government advice.”

Parry's letter also suggested that those remaining games could be played behind closed doors, and that is something Ridsdale appears open to doing, if it means the season can be completed, as he continued: “Football will have to take advice on that. Our preference would be for games to be played in front of supporters because the game is all about the fans. However, we will have to be guided and advised by the Government.

“For the integrity of the game, this season has to be completed. If that has to be done with a behind-closed-doors policy, it will be.”

With nine games of the regular season still to be played at some point, Preston are currently sixth in the Championship table, 14 points adrift of the automatic promotion places, and one point clear of seventh-placed Bristol City in the battle for a play-off spot.

The Verdict

This ought to offer a source of optimism for those football fans who are desperate to see the season resume.

These comments from Ridsdale do seem to suggest that Preston at least, are one club who believe the plan put forward by the EFL is a viable one, meaning they may be others who share that perspective.

It will be interesting to see if any other clubs come out with statements such as this, given the more support there is for this proposal from those EFL teams, the greater chance there is of it happening, provided of course that it is indeed safe to do so.