Bradley urges Luton's players to speak up if they have any concerns about returning during coronavirus pandemic

Luton Town’s players have been urged to speak up by club captain Sonny Bradley if they have any concerns about returning to playing during the current coronavirus pandemic.

The Championship has been given a provisional date of June 20 to resume once more, with Hatters’ having nine games remaining to try and avoid relegation to League One.

With some players away from Kenilworth Road voicing caution about taking to a football field again while the virus remains a real threat, Bradley said: “I think it’s important that I don’t speak for any individual, as different players at different clubs will have different responsibilities.

“If a player turned around at this football club and they didn’t feel comfortable about coming into training or playing matches, then I think at this time, we would have to respect that.

“I know that Paul Watson (general operations manager) and Gary Sweet (chief executive) would speak to those individuals and we have been told if we do feel uncomfortable, to speak up.

"As there’s nothing worse at this time than boys feeling uncomfortable, coming in training, thinking they have to play when in the back of their mind, they’re really uncomfortable.

“We have to respect what individuals want to do and take things from there.”

As captain of the club, then Bradley, who returned to training with the rest of his squad last Monday, has made himself available to speak to if needed.

He continued: “The players have been made aware that if there is any concerns at all then they just need to contact me, James Collins, James Shea, contact Gary, Paul, anyone at the football club to get in touch straight away and we will try and resolve those problems so they feel comfortable when they do return to training.

“Luckily so far, with the protocols the club have put in, the players have felt really comfortable.

“There’s no problems yet, that’s not to say that there won’t be any problems moving forward because I think in this coming week we will probably move to phase two, where we start training – like we have seen the Premier League do – in bigger groups and possibly contact training.

“When we cross that bridge, there is a chance that players will feel uncomfortable and it’s well within their rights to bring up any issues.

“Like I said, if we can let’s try and resolve it and let’s get back on the training ground.

“But I’ve told the boys if they’ve got any queries any problems, they can speak to me about everything.

“Before moving to any phase of training all the boys have to agree, and I say to them, ‘if anyone’s got a problem coming back or moving into a new phase, then just let me know and we can speak about it.’

“‘If you need to speak to Gary, our chief exec, or Paul Watson, if you need to speak to Mick Harford, then we will be there for you.

“‘If they can find a resolution for you then that’s what we’re going to do.’

“We’re concentrating on football now and everyone is comfortable with returning and we want it to stay that way from now until the end of the season.”

Bradley admitted being skipper of the club meant he did feel an extra amount of responsibility on his shoulders during these testing times.

However, he believes he is thriving with the added responsibility, adding: "It’s my obligation as a captain to speak to all the players as a group and as individuals and provide that support they might need.

“Not all players might want to go to the chief executive, they might not want to always go to the manager, they might just want to speak to the captain who could possibly have more knowledge and more understanding on the situation.

“I have felt a little bit more responsibility at this time but I’ve enjoyed doing it.

“I have had to speak to boys individually to make them more at ease and more comfortable.

“But as a captain, I think every Championship club is the same, you have an obligation to do that and that’s what I’ve done and I will continue to do that throughout this whole process and we just want to get this season finished.”