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Troy Deeney misses Watford training again due to illness

Troy Deeney has said he will not return to training this week amid concerns over Coronavirus
Image: Troy Deeney was expected to return to training at Watford early this week

Watford captain Troy Deeney missed training again on Tuesday due to being unwell, although it is unrelated to coronavirus.

The striker was expected to return to training this week, for the first time since the suspension of the Premier League in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Deeney initially opted against a return last month because of his concerns about player safety and the welfare of his five-month-old son, who has breathing difficulties.

But he revealed last week his intention to resume training at the club's London Colney base, after holding positive talks with Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England's deputy chief medical officer.

Watford's squad are due to undergo the latest round of twice-weekly coronavirus testing on Tuesday.

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Sky Sports pundit Keith Andrews believes that the country 'needs' football to restart, as long as it is safe to do so.

Premier League players, who initially were able to resume group training under social distancing protocols as part of Project Restart, were given the go-ahead to begin contact training last Wednesday.

"I only said that I wasn't going back for the first week," Deeney told CNN Sport. "People took that as I'll never go back.

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"But everyone appreciates everything the Premier League is trying to do as well. I don't think it's a case of pure neglect in terms of, 'we're going back to work, get on board', or it's anything like that.

"There have had very good lines of communication and I've maybe had four or five meetings now.

"I'm the captain of a Premier League football team. I'm not doing my job if I'm sitting back at home, saying to the players: 'You win this game for me and I'm not doing anything'."

Watford sit outside the Premier League relegation zone on goal difference ahead of the proposed resumption of the season on June 17, with all 92 remaining league fixtures to be televised.

Sky Sports will show 64 live Premier League games. In addition to the 39 matches scheduled to be broadcast on Sky before the coronavirus interruption, 25 more matches will be available on both Sky Sports Premier League and Sky's free-to-air Pick channel.

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