Christian Kabasele Watford 2019-20Getty Images

Impossible to restart Premier League on June 12, says Watford's Kabasele

Watford defender Christian Kabasele says it will be impossible for the Premier League to return by June 12.

The English top flight has been on hold since mid-March, but Premier League chief executive Richards Masters says the organisation is confident games will start again next month.

Kabasele, however, feels the target date is too soon and poses a big risk to the health of the players, who are now allowed to train in small groups.

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“We see speak about June 12. I think it is impossible because it would be less than three weeks training after a long period without doing anything, it’s a risk for us,” Kabasele, 29, told the Counter Attack podcast.

“I’m not sure, I don’t have any information but I think we are not going to start June 12. The most obvious choice for me is the end of June. Like this you have at least four weeks to train with the team if it’s possible.

“We will see. For the moment it’s a big question mark on this.”

The campaign to get the season underway again in the face of the coronavirus pandemic has been controversial, however.

Kabasele’s team-mate Troy Deeney has spoken out against the league returning at this stage and said he will not go back to training, while three people at Watford – including defender Adrian Mariappa – tested positive for Covid-19.

“The club has been very clear, really clear with that – every individual player is making his own choice,” Kabasele added.

“They are not putting pressure on us to say: ‘You have to be back’. It’s about the player, the player’s feelings and every personal situation.

“For the moment, they came to us with phase one and personally I was quite happy with what they presented to us, so we will see what they are planning for phase two and phase three.

“If it was starting tomorrow, training 11 v 11 with contact, with everybody at the training ground, I would not go - that’s for sure.

“But with phase one, personally I think everything is put in place and they have tried to make the training ground as safe as possible.”

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