By David Woods

24th Mar, 2020 | 7:11am

National journalist delivers clear timetable for mini 'pre-season' & re-start of 19/20 season

Alan Nixon has delivered the clearest timetable yet for a return to action in the Premier League, which would likely be replicated in the Championship.

With the UK on lockdown all football is suspended until April 30 at the earliest, and Nixon has claimed in an exclusive in the Sun that top-flight footballers will be kept apart until May 1 at the earliest.

Clubs are tailoring fitness plans that will run for six weeks when players will return to training.

They would then train together for a month in a ‘mini pre-season’ before games would start playing out behind closed doors on June 1.

This plan would look to get the season ended in July, after 6-7 weeks of intense action.

There has been a shift from players who were initially unwilling to play behind closed doors – they now appreciate this is likely the only way through the current situation.

The Coronavirus has escalated to a point that would have seemed unthinkable just a couple of weeks ago.

With the UK on lockdown, the hope is that we can flatten the curve and halt the spread of the virus.

Looking at the timeline set out for football, it seems realistic at the moment.

It would see behind-closed-doors games start in around 10 weeks, which now seems like the only way to get the season finished by the summer.

Certain sporting events are still taking place in the US behind closed doors, with the WWE still planning on running its Wrestlemania event over two nights on April 4 and 5.

The plan for football in the UK will rely on being given access to certain medical infrastructure but if that is available then we don’t see why games can’t go ahead.

It’s a fragile plan though. It would only take one or two players to get infected for it to crumble again.

In other Leeds United news, ‘Sick and tired’ – Sky Sports pundit wants just two games to be played and Leeds to be promoted