How Sheffield United are attempting to keep their players safe during training

After spending over a month following individual fitness programmes at home because of the coronavirus pandemic, members of Chris Wilder’s squad were invited to take part in small group sessions at the Shirecliffe site.

Together with Premier League rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, who have also taken the same step, United received permission to do so only after agreeing to following a number of guidelines laid down by the governing body and national health chiefs.

They include limiting the number of people involved in the work-outs, requiring players to wash and change at home and barring all access to main buildings for everything but toilet breaks.

Top-flight sides are set to debate ‘Project Restart’ - which could see football resume in early June - at a meeting today. If that is passed - and managers are allowed to prepare their players for the return to action en masse - then even more detailed rules about conduct at training grounds will be introduced.

All items of equipment, such as flags, balls and cones, are set to be disinfected by staff wearing personal protective equipment after use, massages will be banned unless deemed necessary by a doctor, drinks can only be left at designated points and everyone taking part in sessions must cover their mouths with a snood or a mask.

United were seventh in the table when competition ground to a halt seven weeks ago, only five points outside the Champions League places with a game in hand on fourth-placed Chelsea.

Wilder's men had also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they are due to face Arsenal, before the fixture calendar was suspended when the Londoners' head coach Mikel Arteta tested positive for Covid-19. The Basque has since made a complete recovery, although a number of others working within the sport have since confirmed they also contracted the virus, which is thought to have claimed around 230,000 lives worldwide