OXFORD United have scaled back the physical demands on their players to avoid burning them out in lockdown.

Having worked the squad hard to stay in peak condition when the season was first suspended, the plan has now changed.

Tomorrow will mark four weeks since the U’s last played – the 3-2 win at Shrewsbury Town.

It is also the date the initial EFL ban expired on teams training together due to the coronavirus pandemic, but no-one is expecting to be back at work soon.

And with no end in sight to the suspension, it was deemed wise to change tack with the physical work given to the players.

U’s boss Karl Robinson said: “The longer this goes on, the less you need to do now.

“If we’re not going to play for another six weeks and you’ve been really running your boys for three weeks already, then all of a sudden that becomes too much.

“It’s about getting that balance right.

“The first week we really did push them but now seeing the severity of the situation we’ve come off the players a little bit.

“The news is talking about a peak (for the virus) being in the middle of this month, so I can’t see that as the date we’ll be going back in.”

Instead of hard running, the players are now spending more time on other aspects.

“We have been focusing more on injury prevention,” Robinson said.

“Building up groins, hamstrings and thighs, so when we get going again we’ll have a better base.”

Robinson is hoping some indication of where the future lies will emerge from a series of meetings this week.

The EFL and Premier League, along with the PFA and LMA – representing players and managers respectively – have been discussing a range of issues over several days.

It is thought one outcome could be announcing an indefinite suspension, rather than specifying the fixed date for a return, which at the moment stands at April 30.

Robinson said: “No-one has mentioned a start date, except for when we first stopped.

“We’re all just waiting for that phone call to tell us when we can get going again.

“Hopefully by the end of these meetings we’ll have a little bit more clarity of what’s going on.”