Curle keeps a close eye on his players' mental health during lockdown

Callum Morton was knocked out of the StayIntertotoCup by Barnsley's Alex Mowatt on Wednesday.

Looking after his players' mental wellbeing during the coronavirus-enforced shutdown is just as important as their physical fitness for Cobblers boss Keith Curle.

It was reported earlier this week that there has been a 'spike' in the number of footballers in England seeking mental health support since the start of the lockdown last month.

The Professional Footballers' Association revealed 299 players had accessed support in the first quarter of this year, compared to 653 in the whole of 2019.

"When you're used to a particular structure and you're not able to follow that, and you're stuck in day in, day out - I'm concerned about players emotionally and mentally," PFA director of player welfare Michael Bennett told the BBC.

"It's key for them to understand that when something doesn't seem right that they seek the relevant support."

While his players are scattered all around the country, Curle and his staff are in regular contact with them to make sure they're keeping well - both mentally and physically.

"Definitely, it's something we're wary of," said Curle. "And that's why it's vitally important to keep those lines of communication open.

"We speak to the players within our groups every two or three days and often the conversation, predominantly, is not about football.

"Obviously we touch on it and we make sure they're happy with where they're at in a physical sense but then the conversations range from several topics and we talk about their relationships and their families and what they've been up to to occupy themselves.

"We talk about anything to keep the conversation flowing and we're probably finding out more about players now and their personal circumstances than we did before."

Curle is also still picking up the phone to speak to vulnerable people in the local community, both young and old.

"I always look forward to speaking to people," he added. "I always get a bit of background information on who I'm going to speak to and I really enjoy doing it and finding out what's happening in other people's lives.

"People have got different problems and issues and people also like to give me new ideas and the pleasing thing has been the response because it's been very humbling."