COLCHESTER United are hoping to welcome their players back to their Florence Park training ground by the latter part of this week.

The U's are not yet allowed to start small group training, as there is currently no testing programme for League One and League Two clubs.

But the EFL have confirmed that players in the third and fourth tiers can now return to training for 'individual socially-distanced sessions'.

Colchester are waiting for confirmation from the EFL and the FA on how the season will end, with a potential play-off against Exeter City to prepare for.

And they have now received the green light to make their Florence Park training ground pitches in Tiptree available for individual socially-distanced training sessions.

But any return must be in line with all the relevant Government guidance and Return to Training (RTT) protocols.

They include bi-weekly testing and maintaining social distancing at all times when a staff member is at a club's training ground.

Players will have their temperature checked and be asked to complete a medical questionnaire.

Communal areas of training grounds such as canteens must remain closed but clubs may open kitchens to offer players the option to take food home.

Colchester head coach John McGreal said: “A return to training is something that we’re considering, hopefully for the latter part of this week.

“The guidelines have been put in place for us by the EFL and professional bodies.

“Documents have been given to the football club which we’ve been looking at carefully and analysing, over the last few days.

“We’ve been looking at the testing process in detail and making sure that everyone is safe.

“We need to be safe, in terms of phase one and we’ll be making sure that everything is fully in place before staff members return.

“We are going by all of the rules and the first phase is getting back into small groups.

“It’s a case of getting back to having a feel of the ball in small groups where we aren’t putting any of the staff or players in any danger."

McGreal says Colchester's players are looking forward to returning to the training ground, even if it is in unusual circumstances.

“We’ve touched base with the players about their well-being and they feel great, in that respect," added McGreal.

“There’s no pressure on the boys.

“It’s been well documented that there are some big players in the Premier League who aren’t training and that is their decision.

“The EFL are trying to make football as safe as possible to come back.

“Everyone’s learning day by day – these are unprecedented times and no-one has been in this position before.

“They’re putting things in place to make sure that everything is as safe as possible to come back and that will be the case with us, too."