NEWCASTLE United players and staff have been tested for Covid-19, with a view to returning to training tomorrow.

A makeshift testing centre was set up at the club's training ground and players were seen arriving throughout Sunday to undergo coronavirus swab tests.

The Northern Echo:

The Northern Echo:

The Northern Echo:
 

If they return negative tests, manager Steve Bruce has said they will be back to training on Tuesday, May 19 as the Premier League works towards getting the 2019/20 season back up and running.

But Bruce has said that players would not be ready to resume the season until the end of June, insisting an earlier start would see them “fall down like a pack of cards”.

The Northern Echo:

The Northern Echo:

The Northern Echo:
The Northern Echo:

Provisional plans for Project Restart were for a June 12 resumption, though that looks to have hit a stumbling block with disagreements over playing at neutral venues and concerns over player safety.

A June 19 date has been mooted, but Bruce says that players will not be match fit until the end of the month, having been inactive since the middle of March.