Pat Nevin also said that the injured Chelsea players will not have the disadvantage of having to catch the fitness level of their teammates when they return
Christian Pulisic. (Photo by OLLY GREENWOOD / AFP)
Chelsea legend Pat Nevin believes the club’s injured players like Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic will benefit from the untimely break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to the deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 750 people and affected over 14,500 people in the United Kingdom, the Football Association (FA) waa forced to extend the suspension of all forms of professional games in the UK till April 30.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a three-week lockdown earlier this week, making the return of football almost impossible for at least another month.
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“We in the UK are only entering the first days of the lockdown and nobody is sure how long this planetary pandemic will paralyse the Premier League, but when it finishes it is certain that most of the players who have been injured will be fully fit by then and ready to start up again,” Nevin wrote in his column on the official website of Chelsea.
“Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham and N’Golo Kante will each have had a very long period to let their various problems clear up,” he added.
The 56-year-old ex-Scotland international further said that the players will not have the disadvantage of lacking in match fitness and having to catch the level of their teammates when they make their return after everything turns normal.
“Absolutely no one will have that mid-season match fitness right off the bat when a Premier League referee finally blows a whistle in anger once again, so they will all be on a proverbial, as well as literal, level playing field,” Nevin wrote.
Meanwhile, the Londoners’ 19-year-old forward Hudson-Odoi had tested positive for COVID-19 during the initial days of the outbreak in England, forcing the club officials to order self-isolation to the full men’s squad and the coaching staff. The England international has completely recovered.
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