West Bromwich Albion's Operations Director Mark Miles has insisted that the club is ready to play behind-closed-doors football, as the season restart draws closer.

It's been over two months since a Football League fixture was played in England, and two months of despair for Baggies fans - they currently sit in 2nd-place of the Championship table, and not knowing what league they'll be playing in next season.

But the Premier League has been given the green light to restart next month, and the Championship is expected to follow suit, with all nine of teams' remaining fixtures in the second-tier to be played behind-closed-doors.

Speaking to Express & Star about West Brom's preparations for such an eventuality, Miles explained how the club has been researching for this exact scenario:

“In effect, we’ve been planning for the behind closed doors scenario since the postponement of the Blues game. We’ve moved on significantly since then. Obviously, our planning needs to take account of the prevailing guidance and requirements.

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“But we’ve looked at who we will need to run the stadium, how to access and exit, social distancing, any relevant testing, personal protective equipment requirements, cleaning before and after – all the elements that you might expect.

“Our plan is to be as efficient as possible to help limit the drain on our front-line services. Medical aid required on site, for example, would come from private operators not the WM Ambulance Service.”

It sounds like Miles and West Brom have been doing their due diligence in time for the season's finale, but we're yet to receive official confirmation that the Championship will restart next month.

Clubs and football fans alike though will be able to witness how football is played post-Covid, as the Bundesliga is set to return this weekend.

“Fortunately, we can have a close look at the Bundesliga this weekend to see how they cope with these requirements," explained Miles. "But I am confident we are more than ready to stage the contest should we get the go-ahead.”

West Brom sit a point behind Leeds in the race for Premier League promotion, and with 27 points left to play for.

The verdict

Teams up and down the country will have been planning for the eventual restart, but we won't know exactly what challenges it'll bring until they arise.

West Brom have the most crucial part of their season remaining, and to hold out until the end after all that's gone on would be a great achievement by the club.