Luton players have a clean bill of health and are having regular check-ups while continuing to train despite the Coronavirus-enforced suspension of all elite fixtures in England.
Town were due to face Swansea City away in the Championship tonight but that game as well as the Preston and Leeds clashes, either side, have been postponed after the ELF announced all games would be called off until at least April 3.
While other clubs, including Premier League Arsenal and Chelsea, have had players and staff test positive for the Covid-19 disease and have self-isolated, the Hatters are trying to keep it to business as usual at their The Brache training facility.
Manager Graeme Jones said: “While you’ve got a clean bill of health you’re thinking, lets preserve that and keep working and that’s what we’re trying to do.
“I’m fit and healthy, or I think I am, so it’s just business as usual, without the games.
“It was a bit of a club decision to continue to train, keep levels of fitness up, so we were in yesterday (Monday), were in today (Tuesday), had two really good sessions with the boys.
“The thoughts behind that is these boys are social animals by nature; young, vibrant men, and I’m sure they would think about having a coffee in a Starbucks somewhere.
“One, we’re reducing that risk, so we want to protect them and their families, so they’re in an environment where they’re getting regular checks every day and also moderate training helps your immune system.
“Making sure we’re still controlling, certainly one or two meals a day, from a nutritional point of view, so that’s the main thinking behind it from a Luton Town point of view.”
But Jones explained that the Hatters are taking measures to follow government guildelines.
“We are trying to social distance ourselves as much as we possibly can,” said the manager, adding: “The boys are in at 10.30 for an 11 o’clock start, we’re trying to avoid any confined spaces, so breakfast isn’t provided, even though lunch is.
“We’ve spread the players out across four changing rooms now, and when you’re out on that big open pitch, with fresh air, it’s a place where I’m not saying it’s safe, but it’s a safer place than confined spaces.
“So, it (training) has changed, that moderate training mode is just to make sure we don’t detrain in any way, shape or form and we haven’t so far.
“We’re keeping the boys ticking over, keeping that physical level up and also help make sure their immune system is as strong as it can be if any of the boys got infected.
“I’m not a medical expert, so I’m going off the same information as everyone else in the country, I’m listening to Boris Johnson’s press conferences, obviously we’ve got a club policy that we’re taking regular checks of the boys temperatures, any symptoms, that type of thing.
“They’ve got a questionnaire they’ve got to fill in every day, so it has changed the way we work and that’s where we are.”
Government guidance is, however, changing by the day with people advised to work at home, where possible, and to cancel all non-essential travel, to try to prevent the spread of the virus.
Other countries, such as Spain, Italy and France have implanted stricter lockdown policies, which has seen people confined to their homes.
Asked what would happen to players in such a measure being deployed in England, Jones said: “At the minute, they would be allowed to go out and jog, that’s what Boris Johnson said, or go for a run, so if that was legally OK we’d encourage it, as we want to keep those levels of fitness up, and then it’s what kind of gym equipment have you got?
“If it’s a total lockdown like Spain, you’re not allowed on the street, I wouldn’t say every one of our players would be in the privileged position when they’ve got their own gym or let along their own bike of own treadmill, it’s a case by case situation we’d have to review that if it came to that.”
Asked about whether a total suspension of all matches was the correct call from the EFL last week, Jones said: “We’re in an industry where sometimes sport is the be-all and end-all, but there’s nothing more important in this world that the health of any individual and their families and that decision was taken in the best interests of every individual in the country.
“Their health and wellbeing comes way before sport and that is an absolutely priority at the minute, so yes, I was delighted with the decision really.”
