Sonny Bradley has been as “bored” and “frustrated” as Hatters fans that all of the club’s festive fixtures were postponed, but says player safety is paramount as his team-mates return after an outbreak of positive Covid-19 cases in the camp on Christmas Day.
A winter wave has struck rival clubs too and decimated the EFL Christmas programme which, for Town, means they haven’t played since the 1-1 draw with Fulham on December 11, with games against Reading, Bristol City, Swansea and Coventry now rearranged.
Captain Bradley said: “(I’ve been) very, very bored. It’s frustration, this time of year especially, myself and all the boys, we know what it’s about to play through the Christmas period.
“I’ve done it pretty much all through my career, so for four games to be called off, to be sat at home watching Soccer Saturday, it’s frustrating, it’s not nice.
“I was sat on the settee with my girlfriend and my little man and was watching it and it was just frustrating, I turned round to her and said, ‘is this is what it could be like when I’m finished? Well, I’m never going to finish, I’m just going to keep playing’.
“It was strange, sat there watching the football, I’d much rather be playing, but unfortunately that wasn’t an option for us.”
Skipper Bradley suffered badly with coronavirus earlier in the season, as the disease left him bed-ridden and saw him drop a stone in weight, but he has been one of the fortunate Hatters during this current wave.
He said: “Players have had Covid. Touch wood, I don’t think anyone has had it quite as bad as I did. A lot of people are talking about Covid at the minute, about players being fit and available, returning from Covid.
“You’ll see it in the Premier League and across the EFL, but when a player returns back to training after having Covid, it is not as simple as being available straight away.
“Everyone’s situation is different and, from my point of view when I had it, it took me a good few weeks to build that fitness back up.
“I think if you get ahead of yourself, you’ve had Covid and you try and play a game after a couple of sessions, you are at real risk of causing an injury. I’ve been there and I’ve felt it.
“A lot of people are talking about the situation and it’s important, we’re talking about games being rescheduled as well, but lets look at the safety of the players first of all, the staff and the fans, everyone involved because it is serious, because we know people are dying from it.”
All being well, Town’s first game of the New Year will be an FA Cup third round tie at home to League Two Harrogate on Saturday, and Bradley – who had a loan spell there early in his career – is hopeful that a strong squad will be available to face a team that knocked Portsmouth out of the last round.
The defender said: “I think we’ve had maybe one or two extra days off, just to give the squad a little break from the training ground, but apart from that we’ve trained really well and, when we’ve missed games, we’ve made up for that in our training.
“We just think it’s really important that when we return to action we are up to speed as, if we’re not up to speed, then, one, we’re at risk of losing games and, two, there’s a real risk of injury.
“We’ve trained hard, we’ve had a bigger break than we would have liked, but we’ve trained hard, we’re getting there. A lot of bodies are returning, so hopefully when we play Harrogate, we’ve got a near enough full squad.”
And Bradley urged supporters to “hang in there”, until they can return to Kenilworth Road, adding: “It’s not really anybody’s fault, it’s just the way the world is at the minute, the way the country is and unfortunately we’ve had to miss out on games.
“But, if you look at it on the positive side, it just means that now the games have been rearranged, we’re going to get loads of games in January, and maybe a couple more in February as well.
“And, if we can get past Harrogate, hopefully we’ll go on a good cup run as well. It’s been a frustrating few weeks with no football but, moving forward, we’ve got a lot to look forward to.
“Things are changing so quick, from day to day in the country. In my belief, with the cases coming in, I think if they were going to shut football down for the fans, or shut football down entirely, I think they would’ve done it by now.
“From a players’ point of view, I’m feeling positive now that, from now until the end of the season, the fans will be in the grounds and they’ll be there in full capacity.”
