League One round-up: Fleetwood Town place all staff on furlough leave - including Joey Barton

Here’s a glance at the latest headlines from the third tier:

FLEETWOOD PLACE ALL NON-PLAYING STAFF ON FURLOUGH LEAVE

According to Fleetwood Today, the Cod Army have placed all non-playing staff on furlough leave in a cost-cutting measure.

That includes Joey Barton and his coaching staff, with staff expected to be phased back into full-time employment once the players return to training.

OXFORD UNITED MAINTAINING GROUP CONTACT

Oxford boss Karl Robinson has explained how the U’s are utilising technology to keep in touch with their playing squad while everyone is confined to their homes.

He told the Oxford Mail: “On Monday I had a Zoom meeting with the staff at 9.15am and we talked through the day.

“At 10am the players joined us – for those who haven’t heard of Zoom it’s a video meeting where we can all see each other on screen at the same time.

“The first meeting was, if I’m honest, hilarious and a bit chaotic but that’s because the lads hadn’t met socially for a week and it was a chance to reconnect for most of us.”

POMPEY BOSS FIRES A PROMOTION WARNING

Kenny Jackett has warned Portsmouth’s promotion rivals that his side will be ready for their return to action – whenever that may be.

Indeed, in a bid to maintain fitness, a number of Pompey players voluntarily reported to the training ground for extra work this week.

“We’ll be ready - 100 per cent we’ll be ready,” Jackett told the News.

“Our priority has to be coming to top form as quickly as possible.

“That’s what we’re talking about internally on a regular basis.”

BLACKPOOL PLAYERS AIMING TO MAINTAIN MATCH SHARPNESS

Blackpool’s first-team squad have been tasked with completing bumper runs to maintain their match sharpness.

Captain Jay Spearing told BBC Lancashire.“Going into the weekend, on a Saturday they’ve asked us to do a 10 or 11km run to try and replicate a game scenario.

“But the difference between running and that game sharpness are two completely different things.”