The full Premier League statement reads:Premier League Shareholders today voted unanimously to resume contact training, marking another step towards restarting the Premier League season, when safe to do so. Squads are now able to train as a group and engage in tackling while minimising any unnecessary close contact. The Premier League’s priority is the health and wellbeing of all participants.Strict medical protocols are in place to ensure the training ground is the safest environment possible and players and staff will continue to be tested for COVID-19 twice a week. Stage Two of the Return to Training protocol has been agreed following consultation with clubs, players, managers, the PFA, LMA and the Government.Discussions are ongoing as work continues towards resuming the season, when conditions allow.

This follows the stage one of return to training which began last Tuesday for Chelsea at Cobham. Contact training has not been permitted in stage one. Players have been training in small groups and the focus has been on fitness work.

On phase one, Frank Lampard has had this to say:

‘It’s been okay, it’s been great to see the players. I’ve seen them on many Zoom calls and WhatsApp chats so it’s been nice to keep to working. It [training] is very restricted and we have to abide by the restrictions because they’re there for a reason because of the time that we’re in.

‘It’s been good to get some work into the players, it’s individual work. This might be a difficult process or a slow process, safety has to come first. Once we get over phase one and see what phase two might look like and beyond that then we can think about getting games back, albeit behind closed doors.’