The Premier League moved a step closer to the return of competitive football yesterday as clubs gave the green light to small group training commencing within the next 24 hours.

Despite their latest video-conference, however, no date was set for league fixtures to re-start.

Professional football has been suspended in England since March 13 due to the coronavirus crisis and EFL League 2 called a halt to their season last week, with League 1 expected to follow in the coming days.

But there remains a commitment from the Premier League and EFL Championship — English football’s second tier — to play the season to a conclusion on the pitch.

With hopes of games being played again from mid-June, the Premier League has now confirmed training in small groups will be allowed from the afternoon of May 19.

A Premier League statement said: “Premier League Shareholders today voted unanimously to return to small group training from today — the first step towards restarting the Premier League, when safe to do so. -Soccernet