Speaking to Football Insider, former Leeds man Noel Whelan has suggested that there could be an issue with players getting back up to speed once the football season starts up again.
Everyone is begging for football to return as soon as possible but, at the moment, we are still a month away from the game returning and normal life resuming.
The hope for Leeds fans, unsurprisingly though, will be that the campaign does pick up where it left off and Premier League promotion – at long last – can be confirmed.
Whelan has expressed an air of concern over one particular facet of the restart, though, and that is that it will be hard for players to get back to the level they were at fitness-wise straight-away.
Are Whelan's concerns fair?
Yes
No
Whelan said: “I think on some of the players, they’re going to be carrying some sort of niggles so during this period with nine games, you’re going to be carrying some injuries and knocks.
“On that front it gives them that opportunity to get those little niggles, aches and pains right but it’s going to be aches and pains again when they come back.
“It’s pre-season, once you’ve stopped using your muscle memory and playing at that intensity, it’s very difficult to get that intensity back and that’s the worry.”
Certainly, it’s going to be interesting to see how players cope with this situation.
The physios and fitness coaches are bound to have done their very best to tailor programmes to each player’s needs but, at the end of the day, nothing prepares you for a football match like playing a football match.
The long lay-off – even without training together – is going to be tough for all involved and you just have to hope the Whites deal with it better than most.