May 19 2020

Andros Townsend (Photo: Ramzi Musallam)

Crystal Palace winger Andros Townsend has praised the club for their handling of player safety over the coronavirus.

The Palace squad returned to training at Beckenham today after a 10-week absence with the country in lockdown.

Here they will undergo an extensive medical and operational plan with the goal of returning to full league action.

Townsend reckons the players could be back playing Premier League football next month.

“I think mid-June would be the best-case scenario, it’s maybe a bit ambitious, but if we can get back to training and if all goes well I don’t see why we can’t be playing before the end of June," he said to TalkSPORT.

“At the moment, with the world we live in, I’m worried every time I step outside my front door. I’m worried about walking past someone and picking up something and bringing it back to my kids.

“But we’ve been quite lucky at Crystal Palace; the doctor, the manager, the chairman, it’s all been transparent.

“We’ve had regular Zoom conference calls, they’ve laid everything on the table and I’m in no doubt that, when I do return, I’m probably returning to the safest workplace probably in the country at the minute.

“We are going to get swab tested regularly, I think twice a week, so there’s no really much room for an outbreak to spread to the Premier League in my eyes. Everything is being done that can be done.”