SM
Newcastle vs. West Ham: 9 hrs 26 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Kenny McLean: 'Hard to think about football amid coronavirus shutdown'

:Headline: Kenny McLean: 'Hard to think about football amid coronavirus shutdown': ID:393908: from db_amp
The Norwich player is trying to stay fit ahead of big games for club and country - whenever they may take place.

Scotland midfielder Kenny McLean revealed the Norwich group chat is under doctor's orders in a bid to safely negotiate the coronavirus crisis.

The 28-year-old, like all footballers across the United Kingdom, is in a state of limbo due to the pandemic which has halted the game both at home and abroad.

The Premier League and English Football League have suspended all fixtures until April 30 at the earliest but there is speculation that a longer lay-off will be required.

The Canaries squad are set to return to training on April 5, although that is subject to change and McLean told the PA news agency how football has become secondary at the moment to "more important things going on in the world".

"Nobody has been really mentioning the football side of things," he said.

"The doctor has been added to the group chat and he has been basically keeping us up to date with everything and telling us what to do.

"That's what our group chat consists of just now.

"We have been told to stay away and we have our individual programmes.

"The club have delivered bikes and some other equipment to the boys so that we can get on with it.

Kenny McLean is keeping fit until football resumes (Joe Giddens/PA)

"We sign in to a programme every morning and we have an app that we need to complete just to make sure we are doing our stuff so luckily you don't need to leave the house too much.

"As it stands, we are in on April 5 so we will see how that goes."

The former St Mirren and Aberdeen player admits that under the present circumstances it is difficult to focus too much on club or country.

Scotland's Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Israel at Hampden Park – the winners take on Serbia or Norway away in the final – was due to take place on Thursday night but has been pushed back, with UEFA's hope that it might be concluded in the summer with the finals rescheduled for next year.

On the club front, Norwich are bottom of the Premier League, six points from safety with nine games remaining.

"It is hard to think about the position we are in and the games with Norwich and Scotland with the way  things are going," said McLean.

Norwich and Scotland are on the back burner amid extraordinary circumstances says Kenny McLean (Jeff Holmes/PA)

"When we got told to stay away I think everybody knew international games would be called off and then after a couple of weeks realised that the Euros wouldn't be going ahead this year.

"Obviously everybody in Scotland was looking forward to, hopefully, two big games coming up but it is just one of those things, the Israel game will come around at some point and we just need to be ready when it does.

"We found ourselves in a pretty poor position at Norwich but we felt we were getting a bit of momentum.

"I think the games will come thick and fast if we get the league back up and running. We need to keep ourselves as fit as possible and be ready.

"It does seem a long, long time from going in every day for training and seeing the boys. It feels a lot longer away than it has been.

"Unfortunately, we can't affect anything now, in terms of playing football so we just need to get on with it. Right now we just have to look after each other."

amp_article__393908 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2020-03-23 12:12:18:
html db last update - 2020-03-23 12:12:18 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Coronavirus outbreak - Click here for more stories

Click here for more stories about Kenny McLean

Click here for more stories about Norwich City

Share this article now:
Read more about Kenny McLean Football
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leeds UnitedLeeds1695228121632
2Sunderland1695226121432
3Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd1610422191232
4Burnley168621961330
5Middlesbrough1683529191027
6West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom166821811726
7Watford168262524126
8Millwall166641914524
9Blackburn RoversBlackburn156451917222
10Bristol City165742020022
11Derby CountyDerby165562020020
12Stoke CityStoke165561920-120
13Norwich CityNorwich164752524119
14Swansea CitySwansea165471414019
15Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds165471826-819
16Luton TownLuton165381826-818
17Coventry CityCoventry164572223-117
18Oxford UnitedOxford Utd164571924-517
19Plymouth ArgylePlymouth164571728-1117
20Preston North EndPreston163761624-816
21Cardiff CityCardiff164481524-916
22Hull City163671621-515
23Portsmouth152671628-1212
24Queens Park RangersQPR161871326-1311
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .