West Bromwich Albion have told first-team players to be ready to return to training next week, with the future of the 2019/20 EFL campaign still in limbo.

The Baggies will be looking to finish off what has been a hugely impressive campaign thus far, with Slaven Bilic's side breathing down Leeds United's neck in the race for automatic promotion.

Albion, as it stands, currently sit second in the Sky Bet Championship table, only one point off top spot and six points clear of third with nine matches left to play this season.

Having been out of action for well over two months now, Bilic's men will now be looking to get back playing as soon as possible, and more importantly when it is completely safe to do so.

According to the Express and Star, the West Midlands club have told players to get ready to potentially return to training as early as next week.

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It is claimed that training will be conducted in limited groups, and arrival times will be staggered so only a select number of people can be present at the training ground at one time.

This will see the likes of Ahmed Hegazi, Ali Al-Habsi and Kamil Grosicki all fly home and return to the country, with the trio training at their homes in Egypt, Oman and Poland respectively.

A lot, of course, will depend on what Boris Johnson has to say this weekend, as the government prepares to outline their latest guidelines to the nation.

The Verdict

This is a big step which will inevitably divide fans' opinions.

Nobody knows what will happen to the remainder of the season, and there will be a number of clubs wanting the season to end as people's safety is paramount to anything else.

But if football is to return, it should be comforting for West Brom fans to know that the players will be back in training and dusting off the cobwebs so to speak.