Phil Parkinson gives detailed insight on Sunderland's plans during postponement and has this message for supporters

Manager Phil Parkinson admits he is having to regularly adapt as the COVID-19 outbreak escalates across the country.

The EFL, in line with the Premier League, had initially postponed fixtures until April 3rd.

That was then pushed back to April 31st, meaning that Parkinson then intended to give players this week off, before beginning a staggered return from next Monday.

Players and staff are now of course following guidelines announced by the government on Monday night.

From home, they will be working closely with the club’s sports science department, particularly physical performance coach Nick Allamby, to ensure that they can maintain their fitness.

“We were due to come back in on Monday this week for training, that was the plan, but then last Thursday the date that the season was due to resume was put back to April 30,” Parkinson said.

“We looked at it and, at that, point we were still six weeks away from the season starting again, so we told the players to stay at home this week with a view to them returning in small groups next week for what would effectively become a five-week pre-season.

“We were following the guidelines at the time and we felt we would be able to bring in groups of six players, already in their kit, park up at the training ground, go straight out onto the training pitch, do the work and go home.

“At that stage, with the season due to resume in five weeks’ time, it would have been a case of doing physical work so I don’t think it would have mattered that they were working in small groups,” he added.

“Nearer the time, obviously, you would have to introduce bigger numbers and do football sessions.

“That was the original plan, but of course that has changed following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Monday night.

“Myself and the staff keep talking about what to do next, but the situation keeps changing around us and we have to keep adapting our plans to that.

“So now the players will be working from home while the country is in lockdown for the next three weeks, and we’ll see what happens then.

“In the meantime, the players will continue to liaise with our sports science department on a regular basis and follow programmes at home.

“Nick Allamby has set programmes for everybody, and he has had his own meetings via conference calls with the medical department to put things in place.”

Parkinson also confirmed that no one in the senior set-up had shown any symptoms of COVID-19 at this stage.

A number of League One clubs have confirmed that players have been forced to self-isolate in recent weeks, while Portsmouth this morning confirmed that Ross McCrorie had become the fifth player to test positive.

“We have had no cases within the squad or the coaching staff,” Parkinson said.

“Everyone has been able to do the programmes they have been set, no-one has had to go into self-isolation or anything.”

The EFL have maintained that their plan remains to complete the current season when it is safe to do so, with chairman Rick Parry saying that there is a unanimous will amongst clubs not to have an ‘artificial’ end to the campaign.

UEFA had previously confirmed that all associations had committed to trying to complete the current campaign by June 30th, which would minimise disruption to next season and avoid major complication surrounding the expiration of contracts.

Whether that is feasible remains hugely doubtful, with non-league football in the UK seemingly moving closer to voiding the current campaign.

Parkinson admits that that football feels like an ‘irrelevance’ in the current climate, and said his thoughts were supporters during an immensely difficult period.

He said he hopes all can come through the crisis.

“The most important thing is people’s health, not just the players and the immediate people who work at the football club, but my thoughts are with our supporters and people in general,” he said.

“We all want to come through this and get back to some kind of normality at some point, but at the moment football seems a bit of an irrelevance – that’s how it feels talking about football.

“We are in unprecedented times.

“Football is what unites us and of course it is important, but at the moment it feels like a very small part of a much bigger picture.

“I just want everyone to come through this so that we can get back to normality.”

Parkinson’s words were echoed earlier this week by Max Power, who urged supporters to look after each other through the current crisis.

Posting on instagram, he said: “Missing the games, my team-mates and the buzz we all feel ahead of every weekend, but this is so much more important than football.

“Take care of your friends and family, and look after the many others in need as well. If we all listen to the advice being given, we’ll get through this together.

“Remain positive, tough times don’t last, tough people do #SAFC”.