Burnley cancel plans to return to training this week

Burnley

Burnley have decided to suspend training for the foreseeable future despite originally planning to keep going.

There were some eyebrows raised when both Burnley and Sheffield United said they were going to carry on training as usual during the current crisis despite the rest of the country being urged to work from home wherever possible to avoid contact with other people and therefore try and halt the progress of the coronavirus itself.

The Clarets have now decided that is the best way forward and players and staff will now embark on self isolation and the players have been given training schedules of their own to follow at home.

The club had originally announced that the Academy would not operate until further notice, and all youth fixtures had been cancelleded as well, but the first team, after a week off, were expected back at Barnfield Training Centre this week but that is now off.

Last week the Premier League, the FA and the EFL cancelled all football matches until April 30 at the earliest and there are those who feel that is going to be an optimistic date for a return.

Prior to the pandemic kicking in Sean Dyche’s men were on a seven-match unbeaten run and thoughts had turned to European qualification for the second time in three years and club legend Andy Payton hopes they will eventually get chance to finish their season.

“The longer it goes on it’s going to be really weird.,” Payton said. “But the club has been doing well so hopefully they can play the games at some point and get that run going again.

“It was turning into what could be a great season with the chance to earn a place in Europe again.

“It would be nice to see it through and see what could be achieved.”

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