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James Lawrence "comfortable" with German clubs returning to training

James Lawrence
© Reuters
Teams in Germany have returned to training in small groups for over a week.

Wales defender James Lawrence admits he feels "quite comfortable" with restrictions put in place as German teams return to training during the coronavirus lockdown.

Lawrence is currently on loan at Bundesliga.2 side St Pauli from Anderlecht and has been training in small groups for more than a week as Germany aim to get their domestic campaign back on track.

The 27-year-old, who has six caps for Wales, has spoken about his experiences of returning to the training ground during the pandemic.

He told talkSPORT: "I think under the guidelines of the association and government – they have put a lot of rules into place that we have to abide in order to train.

"I think they are taking the necessary precautions but it has allowed us to get back into training in a way that is manageable.

"We are in only groups of five, maximum of six players, one coach per team, one physio per team and a performance coach.

"The staff aren't allowed to mix with each other, the players aren't allowed to mix with each other so the groups are kept completely separate.

"We have different training times staggered throughout the day so that the groups can't run into each other.

"With the rules that they have put in place, it has allowed us to feel quite comfortable actually in doing that so we don't feel like we are at risk at the moment."

Lawrence admitted that none of the Hamburg-based St Pauli team had been tested for Covid-19 ahead of their return to training, with plans in place for Bundesliga matches to start up again in May.

"We are filling in daily forms, taking daily temperatures and all the necessary things and all of that information is going to the league," he added.

Lawrence, left, hopes to make Wales' squad for next year's European Championships
Lawrence, left, hopes to make Wales' squad for next year's European Championships (Adam Davy/PA)

"We haven't had the test before going back to training. We have only been monitoring the symptoms and all that sort of stuff with the players.

"No one in the team has shown symptoms, we haven't been in contact with anyone who has, so we have done everything we can to minimise those risks."

Lawrence had knee surgery before Christmas and was on his way back to full fitness before global sport was halted by the outbreak, including the postponement of Euro 2020 for a year, which could boost his chances of making Ryan Giggs' side next summer.

He said: "I was fully fit just before we had to go into isolation and played my first 45 minutes. It was quite a frustrating time because I just came back from an operation.

"I'm feeling really good now and it has given me time to fully recover and get everything in completely in order instead of rushing back for games.

"It means that I can possibly get a full season behind me before going into the Euros, whereas now we only have nine games left to play – so it would have been a shorter time period.

"But (that's) not to say it is an advantage or disadvantage because you never really know what can happen next season – but it gives me that longer time to adjust and get really in the rhythm."

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1St Pauli33199560352566
2Holstein Kiel33205863382565
3Fortuna DusseldorfDusseldorf33179769383160
4Hamburger SV331671060431755
5Karlsruher SCKarlsruher331410965481752
6Hannover331313758421652
7SC PaderbornSC Paderborn33147125253-149
8Hertha Berlin331391168571148
9Greuther Furth33138124849-147
10Schalke 04Schalke33127145358-543
11Elversberg33127144960-1143
12Nuremberg33117154260-1840
13Magdeburg33911134451-738
14Eintracht BraunschweigBraunschweig33115173748-1138
15KaiserslauternKaiserslautern33106175464-1036
16Wehen WiesbadenWiesbaden3388173548-1332
17Hansa RostockHansa Rostock3394202955-2631
18VfL OsnabruckOsnabruck33510182968-3925


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