Striker Jayden Stockley not sure what to expect when Preston North End get back to business

Teams will need some sort of pre-season programme, with football’s suspension now in its second month.

A return to training has been pencilled in for May 16 ahead of possibly starting again in early June.

In the meantime players will keep ticking over with individual fitness and weights programmes at home.

Stockley told the Lancashire Post: “We will all need a pre-season of some sort. There is only so much you can do at home.

“We’ll need to do a lot of work with the football, probably focus on that.

“So it will be a bit different to what we would normally do in a pre-season. It depends how long they give us before the season gets going again.

“Three or four weeks would give us that time to do some team work and also work on our fitness.

“Fitness coaches will be looking at programmes to get players in the right shape.

“What we do know is that the season will only start when it is safe to do so.

“The focus at the moment is following the Government advice and staying safe.

“If we can all do that we are doing our bit to try and beat this virus.”

Stockley and his Preston team-mates have not played since losing 3-1 to QPR on March 7 at Deepdale.

The season was suspended on March 13, the day before they were due to face Luton at Kenilworth Road.

It seems an age ago to fans and players alike that games were being played.

Said Stockley: “In the week leading up to the Luton game we had trained as normal.

“Things changed on that Thursday night when news came out that Mike Arteta had tested positive for the coronavirus.

“That was the moment when football realised it had to stop.

“On the Friday morning at training we knew we weren’t going to be travelling later that day or playing the next day.

“Then the announcement came through that the season had been stopped. We were all realistic about it.”

Stockley is something of a dab hand in the kitchen and has been able to keep himself busy cooking, together with keeping his two children amused during the lockdown.

“I really like cooking so I’ve had the chance to try a few different things,” said the 26-year-old.

“In terms of eating at the moment, I’ve cut down on the carbs because we’re not working as hard as we would do in training and games.

“I’ve been monitoring my weight and that hasn’t altered much.”