West Ham United midfielder Pablo Fornals has admitted the first three games of the season’s return will be tough, adding that changes to substitution rules will be welcomed.
The Premier League is set to return to action later this month, having been suspended for the best part of three months as the UK battles against Coronavirus.
A new, increased schedule has been devised and approved by Premier League clubs, with them determined to finish the season as soon as possible to avoid repercussions next season.
That will see them playing two or three times a week, with many predicting an increase in injuries as a result, something which has already happened in the Bundesliga.
To try and avoid this, FIFA have implemented new rules allowing clubs to make five substitutions, something Fornals believes will be welcomed.
“The first three games are going to be tough,” he told Radio Marca.
“It’s a moment in which we’re going to play many games, and we’ve come from spending a long time doing practically nothing.
“If these changes are made to reduce the number of injuries, they will be welcomed.”
As is the case with training, contact in games has been minimised as much as possible so that the risk of COVID-19 spread is reduced.
This means team celebrations, particularly hugging, are off the table for the foreseeable future, something that ‘shocked’ the West Ham man when watching Bundesliga matches
“What struck me most was how the news spread about whether the players were hugging each other when celebrating a goal or that sort of thing.
“To see how in the first few games there was a reluctance to score a goal and to celebrate with colleagues was shocking.”
Like the rest of the country, the West Ham midfielder has been in isolation for the last few months as lockdown was implemented in the UK.
That has proven particularly difficult for some footballers, who have found their regular schedule of training and games disrupted.
Most have been forced to find new pastimes to kill time, and Fornals is no different in that regard.
“The most difficult thing has been to get through the quarantine alone in London,” he added.
“I talked a lot with my family and my partner, and that was the best way to get through it. I’ve read lots of books, and I’ve done my bit in the kitchen with the help of my mother, my grandmother and my girlfriend. It kept my head busy.”
