Sheffield Wednesday star Adam Reach opens up on the 'difficult' nature of football suspension

The former Middlesbrough flyer sat out of the final weeks of Wednesday’s season so far with a toe injury and so faces an even bigger struggle to regain match fitness.

“We’ve been off now for two weeks and it’s difficult to keep your fitness levels up on your own,” Reach told the Yorkshire Post.

“I haven’t got any gym equipment so it’s basically going out on runs. You can’t recreate anything you would do in a game. It’s difficult, but it is what it is.

“I think the first week off, it was a bit of a novelty and you were getting loads done in the house but now it looks like it’s going to keep going for a while. It’s getting a bit frustrating because you don’t know when it’s going to be [the season resumption].

“Everyone’s in the same boat, though, it’s not just footballers. Unfortunately they’re the drastic measures we have to take but it’s nice to spend time with my girlfriend and do some jobs around the house.”

Reach revealed how the players and staff are using social media to say in constant contact.

“We’ve got WhatsApp groups and the club are doing video conference calls, more than anything to keep reminding people we’ve got friendly faces to help us through,” he said.

“Some people are living on their own so the club are trying to keep everyone within their wits.

“I think the answer will change depending how long we’re in isolation.

“We had a lot of players fatigued or suffering from injuries so a physical and mental break is a good thing but if it goes on too long match fitness will suffer.

“The fans have had a break from the games too, which is probably no bad thing when things aren’t going great.

“We just hope we’re not in isolation too much longer and we get chance to finish the season.”