Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has expressed his concerns regarding plied-up Premier League fixtures when top-flight football finally returns in England.

Following a two-month-long hiatus due to coronavirus pandemic, football is set to for its much-anticipated return but the prospect of playing four matches in 11 days remains a cause of concern for the Spaniard.

“We are ready to play one game but not another one three days later and then (another) four days after that,” Guardiola was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.

“Not just Man City, all the teams. We were two months of holidays, lying on the sofa, and that’s why I think the players are not fully fit.

“But we have to finish the season because the economic damage to the clubs must be as little as possible. We have to adapt, pray a little bit and be lucky.

“We were worried with these three weeks, the incredible lack of preparation. It’s not like in Spain or Germany, where they worked for five or six weeks,” he added.

Defending champions City are on the verge of relinquishing their crown as they find themselves 25 points behind league leaders Liverpool.

They will be playing their first match of the revamped calendar against Arsenal, who currently occupy the ninth place on the table.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the entire world to a standstill and the sporting arena is no exception. Most of the high profile tournaments including the Olympics stand postponed.

Even the biggest cricketing spectacle on the planet, the Indian Premier League (IPL), stands suspended indefinitely owing to the coronavirus pandemic. After Bundesliga, La Liga and Serie A have recently become the other high-profile sporting events to resume after almost a three month period with almost no sporting activity with the Premier League set to resume tonight.

A few cricketing boards around the world have only recently granted permission to their players to resume training.

The move to restart sporting leagues and tournaments comes after governments are beginning to realise that the coronavirus is here to stay for quite some time and sports among other businesses will need to find a way to co-exist with it.

The virus has already infected more than 8 million people around the world while claiming over 430 thousand lives. There is still no sure shot treatment of the disease and social-distancing, self-isolation and maintenance of basic hand hygiene remain the only potent weapons of protecting oneself from contracting the infection.

(With inputs from IANS)