Premier League clubs have a long-awaited resumption date – now the countdown is on.
In a decisive week of positive steps forward for Project Restart the announcement that the Premier League will return on June 17 was the biggest.
The confirmation finally gives the top-flight clubs a date to work to after weeks of uncertainty.
The clarity has helped focus the minds of players who have seen and heard all the talk about whether the season was going to resume.
The conversations, including about some of their peers not being keen to return, have been hard to ignore and left some players unable to fully focus on preparing for a season amid doubts about whether it would actually restart.
But now they and their managers, in particular, have something they have been craving – a firm date to work back from so they can plan how to ramp up their preparations and ensure the top-flight's stars are ready to hit the ground running.
Speed is of the essence with less than three weeks between Thursday's announcement and the two games that will signal the Premier League's return – Aston Villa v Sheffield United and Manchester City v Arsenal.
That lack of preparation time has frustrated fitness staff at clubs while a number of managers have spoken openly about the injury risks facing their players.
Watford manager Nigel Pearson believes the ideal scenario is four to six weeks to get ready for the rest of the season.
Newcastle's Steve Bruce spoke of his worries that players 'are just going to fall down like a pack of cards' and said, 'I don't see how we can play games until the back end of June.'
But June 17 it is for Aston Villa, Sheffield United, Manchester City and Arsenal and the weekend of June 19, 20 and 21 for the rest.
The focus now is on getting players ready as quickly as possible.
The urgency of the process was summed up when some clubs launched into phase two of training immediately after they were given the green light to step things up by training in bigger groups and start tackling though still under orders to minimise 'unnecessary close contacts.'
Confirmation that they could came from the Premier League on Wednesday lunchtime.
Some clubs then began those phase two sessions that afternoon. No messing about and no time for clubs to waste in the pursuit of full fitness.
There has also been a process of players filling out paperwork confirming they are happy to proceed to the next stage of training for clubs to go through before they could begin.
There will be a third phase before the serious action returns with full contact, tackling and small sided matches allowed.
This would need to be approved by shareholders who have a meeting next Thursday, meaning full training could be back as early as the end of next week.
The following week could then see clubs start stepping things up further by playing in warm up friendlies which top-flight managers are keen to get some in providing they can make the timing and logistics all work.
They have to find the balance between getting some match action into their players but also ensuring they are fresh enough for the big kick-off.
So there is lots to do and not much time to do it – but at least clubs can now plan with a bit more certainty.
