Ralph Hasenhuttl's squad had a few days off, but the manager has advised them not to go very far after their return to Staplewood this week.

The Coronavirus and indeed all illnesses are no respecter of wealth or status and therefore the Saints squad are under the same restrictions as the rest of us, so they are being advised by the club to stay close to home.

Many of the squad were expected to be away on international duty, but that has now been cancelled and after a break over the weekend the team are now back at Staplewood although under heavy medical supervision as regards their training and contact with each other.

They are preparing with the assumption that they will have to play against Watford in a little over two weeks time and working on sorting out the problems which have seen a big dip in form over the past month or so.

The likelihood is that the Watford game will not be played unless it is decided that games will be played behind closed doors and a meeting of the football authorities guided by the Premier League will consider that option later this week.

If that happens it is intended that games will be screened only on the Premier League club websites and then only to those who are season ticket holders or members etc who have log in accounts , this is to stop potential gatherings in pubs etc if the games were shown on TV.

But for Saints and indeed other Premier League clubs it is a real period of uncertainty which makes it very difficult to actually plan training sessions etc and keep things fresh, in the pre season clubs will go away on training camps and pre season tours but that is not an option here and the problem is to try and avoid boredom and monotony.

The club are also asking players not to go very far away from the club itself and home on their time off be it at weekends etc, that is perhaps not difficult for some given the travel restrictions currently imposed making foreign travel very difficult, but for the UK players there will be a temptation to visit families in other parts of the country and that could be a problem in avoiding contracting the virus and then potentially spreading it through the squad.

For the moment it is a waiting game, like life for the rest of us it is an unprecedented situation and all we can do is sit back and wait.

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