Curle says Cobblers are in 'good spirits' and reminds players to keep their discipline

Cobblers boss Keith Curle says he and his players are in 'good spirits' and will continue to do everything they can to help the local community while trying to stay fit for the return of the football season.

The Cobblers squad have been working on their fitness at home ever since the coronavirus pandemic forced the season to be suspended nearly three weeks ago.

But while they can't see one another due to the current lockdown in place, Curle and his staff are in daily contact with the players, either through a phone call or on Zoom, the video conferencing website.

Curle said: "We've split the players into four groups so myself, Colin West, Dan Watson and Ronnie Jepson have all got players that we speak to every two or three days.

"At the end of the week, we exchange lists so they get another player to speak to and just it's a chat and a phone call and also we use other platforms where we can have video calls.

"It's just an opportunity to keep that connection and stay connected with all the players and we invite them to share any concerns, whether that's fitness, family or football related, anything they want to talk about afterwards."

Curle is also constantly reminding his players of their responsibilities and the importance of following the government's guidelines with people only allowed to leave their homes for essential reasons to limit the spread of the virus.

Recently, Aston Villa player Jack Grealish was in the news for being caught driving to his friend's house.

Curle added: "The players are all in good spirits and they're all abiding by the rules and we make sure they fully understand the guidelines and what their responsibilities are as individuals.

"That's not only as professional footballers within their sport but also as individuals in society.

"It was disappointing to see the lack of discipline recently by people in the public eye because the government's guidelines are there to help us all get through this period.

"It's about simple discipline. All we can do is make sure we do what needs to be done, individually and collectively, and that will spread and the majority then benefits."