Players must be given time to prepare for rearranged games

Russell Martin wants to make sure players are in good condition before games are played

Playing nine games in 56 will not be a problem for the MK Dons players, but manager Russell Martin says they must be afforded a few weeks of training before they are thrust back into action again.

Without kicking a ball in anger since March 7, the players are still a long way off returning to training, let alone playing games.

In preparation for this season, Dons trained for six weeks after a break of 52 days between winning promotion and their first session back. With the count already up to 32 days since Dons last trained together, Martin believes squads must be given an appropriate amount of time for a mini pre-season to ensure players are fully prepared for a busy period to complete the season.

"I don't think playing the games in 56 days will be a big issue for any of the teams, to be honest with you, but what will be important is how long they give us to prepare for those 56 days. When we come back for pre-season training, we have six or seven weeks to prepare after a break of a similar sort of length.

"Some people have gyms at home, some people have do work out with just their own body weight and that's all fine, but it's very hard to replicate the sort of movements we make in football without actually playing football.

"If they expect us to get straight back into games and playing, they will have to expect a lot of injuries and issues surrounding that. So I really don't think playing the games will be the problem, but how long they give us before then."