Preston North End winger Scott Sinclair joined his team-mates in returning to training on Monday and he said that is was good to be back with the boys.
The Lilywhites were back at Springfields with groups of five training with social distancing measures in place and the No.31 admitted it was a ‘different’ experience.
“It is great to be back and see a few of the boys,” he told iFollow PNE. “We are in groups of five for training. It is nice to be back out on the pitch and looking to get the season finished.
“Tom Little sent plans and drills to keep us fit while we were off and most of the boys have been doing all the sessions and keeping ticking over, so we are ready for the restart.
“The sessions now are much different, because we are in groups of five, so there is no possession, it is more individual things with he coaches, but the boys are getting on with it and once we move into the next stage, when we can train with contact, it will be much better.”
The players are determined to be ready when the games get underway as well: “It is nine massive games and everyone needs to be ready,” explained the former Celtic man. “Most teams will be back doing exactly the same things, doing all the preparation and being ready to re-start.
“It is like a mini pre-season, but with no warm up games, it is just straight in and it is vital for us to get back and be ready for the next game.
“It is going to be a bit different not having fans and everyone will say the same thing, but for us, we are currently in the Play-Offs and we just have to keep pushing and keep winning games.”
And he echoed the words of his manager, who spoke to the website on Monday, by calling for the fixtures to be released as soon as possible.
“The way we have been training, it will pay off in the end. Even though it has been difficult being off for eight weeks and not knowing whether we would be back or if the season would get finished, you had to prepare for the worst, but also prepare for if we did go back in – which we have – and make sure we are fit enough to finish it.
“The hardest thing was the uncertainty of not knowing whether the season would be finished and not knowing when the next game is and mentally for every player, to get that focus of what the name is going to be is important, so you know when to be ready.
“Once we do get that focus and the date is announced of when our first game is going to be, it will be vital for all the players to know when, mentally and physically we are starting and going into the first game,” he added.