Deeney: Most EPL players expressing concern over next phase of training
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The Premier League took its first step toward the 2019-20 season's return when clubs voted in favor of training in small groups beginning Tuesday. Moving into phase two of Project Restart, however, could prove more difficult.
Watford captain Troy Deeney believes many players across the league are yet to be convinced that contact training in larger groups from next week is safe while the United Kingdom's confirmed coronavirus cases near 245,000 with almost 35,000 related deaths. Deeney himself wants assurances about returning to full training due to risks it could pose to his son, who suffers from breathing difficulties.
"It's not just players at the bottom who are trying to stay in the league, it's concerns right across the board," Deeney told ITV's "Good Morning Britain," as quoted by The Guardian's Paul MacInnes.
"I have had a lot of texts from players who are worried about coming out and speaking. I would say 98% are very much aware that phase one is very good. I would say 65-70% of people are concerned with phase two. I'd say even higher after that."
Deeney described the first phase of training as "like going to the park," but in the weeks that follow, when tackling is permitted in bigger groups, the chances of the coronavirus spreading are likely to increase. Deeney wants the Premier League to set out clearer protocols for the next stages of Project Restart.
"Phases two and three have not been clearly laid out," Deeney continued. "There's been a lot of - what I would class as - very simple questions that haven't been answered."
The 31-year-old is also uneasy with the Premier League using so many tests and personal protective equipment (PPE) when supplies are comparatively tight for the wider British public.
"There's a bigger question to be had here morally as well," he said. "We see a lot of about care workers and key workers not getting tested and people dying in nursing homes and things of that nature, yet we're expected to have just short of three-and-a-half thousand tests per month as football players."