The inside track on how Sunderland and the backroom staff are operating during the fixture postponement

Phil Parkinson had planned to start phasing his players back into training at the Academy of Light last week, before Boris Johnson’s address to the nation forced a period of lockdown for three weeks.

That has significantly affected the player’s ability to stay in shape, with a long lay-off certain.

As it stands, football is due to resume in the first week of May, but it is widely expected that the EFL will announce a further delay.

Answering questions from supporters on the club’s official twitter account, Wyke says the staff are using an app to track and guide the players through their work.

“The coaching staff have put together a plan for us,” he said.

“That changes from week to week.

“There's a bit of running, a bit of gym work.

“Everything we do we have to track, so we all put it on an app, the coaching staff go through it and if they want a bit more from us, or we're doing too much, they'll let us know.”

Parkinson admitted last week that he is having to regularly change his plans as the situation develops, and physical performance coach Nick Allamby has been key in tailoring the programmes that will suit the players during the break.

“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,” Parkinson said.

“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.”