Thomas confident Cobblers will 'get through' pandemic but says circuit-breaker is not the answer

Cobblers chairman Kelvin Thomas says he is 'relatively confident' the club will survive whatever the pandemic throws at them next following the latest lockdown.

Just when fans had started returning to the PTS, restrictions have significantly tightened again and now the whole country is in a third national lockdown due to the alarming rise in COVID cases.

Supporters were back inside the ground to watch Cobblers play Doncaster and Lincoln before Christmas but it seems likely the rest of the season will be played behind closed doors, robbing clubs of vital revenue.

However, whilst teams are also being hit by positive cases within their playing squads, Thomas does not believe a 'circuit-breaker' lockdown is the answer.

Speaking on the It's All Cobblers To Me podcast, Thomas said: "It is very challenging at the moment and you can never say never with this pandemic but we're relatively confident we'll make it through.

"But I don't think a circuit-breaker would work because potentially that would finish the season. It's not like leaving your office for two weeks and you go back on Monday morning and everything's the same.

"We're talking about elite footballers and we have a duty of care to them. If we take a two-week break, they'll need another two weeks to get fit again so that could become a four to six week break and there's not room in the schedule for that.

"But due to a combination of things, such as the bailout and the generosity of season ticket holders, and with funding from ourselves, we will get through."

Chief executive James Whiting added: "No club is really sustainable in the long-term based on the current income levels, especially with matches behind closed doors.

"What has helped though is a lot of the work that we have done over a period time. We want to be as competitive as we can be on the pitch while also making the club sustainable and that has been crucial, particularly so now we are in this pandemic.

"Things are tough for clubs right now and our work to make the club sustainable has proved vital."