Hartlepool United boss Dave Challinor on how the second national lockdown is affecting clubs

England has been placed under tighter restrictions until December 2 in a bid to get the rate of infection down but football at Premier League, EFL and National League level is continuing as normal.

And Pools chief Challinor has been reflecting on what it means for clubs like Pools, who only started their season in October as a result of the impact of the first wave of infections earlier in the year.

Matches continue to be played behind-closed-doors with clubs doing temperature checks of players, social distancing and questionnaires in a bid to keep Covid-19 at bay.

Challinor, when asked what the impact was of the second national lockdown, said: “Nothing has changed massively.

"We’re all up here in our own ball in terms of training so nothing has changed there, the same protocols are in place, we’re still doing temperature testing, questionnaires, social distancing and things like that.

"I suppose it will be a little bit different where we have some players staying up here and others travelling home.

"We’ve just got to be more vigilant over the next four weeks and see where things go.

"There’s still a lot of uncertainty over how things may progress but all we can do is be as vigilant as possible and follow the rules so it doesn’t impact us too much.”

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