- Adapting will be important, insists boss
- Fixtures set for behind closed doors
- O'Neill was speaking to BBC Radio Stoke
Michael O’Neill says he and his coaching staff will prepare the players for playing behind closed doors when Championship football eventually resumes.
Following the coronavirus pandemic, football looks set to be played behind closed doors for the foreseeable future, as the 2019/20 season is finished.
Stoke City have nine fixtures still on their list, and the players have returned to training ahead of a potential return to Championship action.
But despite the return, the boss emphasised to BBC Radio Stoke the importance of getting the players familiar with a behind closed doors environment.
“We’re going to have to play games without having played any friendly games. We’re only ever going to be able to play games amongst ourselves at the training facility,” O’Neill told Radio Stoke.
“We will look at playing games at the Stadium as well because I think it’s going to be important to give them the feeling of playing behind closed doors and how that is going to be.
“There is a bit of mental preparation as well as physical preparation, but until we get to the point in which we’re doing 11v11 sessions, we’re quite limited in how we can work towards what we will be as a team.
O’Neill insisted the atmosphere in the stadiums will be similar to that of reserve and Under-23 fixtures, something the players will have experienced previously.
However, the Northern Irishman says it is important the players adapt to their new surroundings ahead of the remaining fixtures’ resumption.
The players have all played in reserve games in the past and Under-23 games and you play in empty stadiums in those games.
Michael O'Neill
“We’ll have to think about how we’re going to adapt the players to that (playing behind closed doors) in terms of training and playing 11v11.
“It will be different, there is no doubt about that. The game will have a different feel about it and the approach to it will be difficult for the players, mentally more than anything else.
“We have nine very important games to play and we have to made sure we’re ready to deal with all the elements that come with that,” O’Neill concluded.