Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings reveals lockdown strain

The England international revealed he has been following his individual training programme on a public football pitch with Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground having been closed since mid-March.

All 20 top flight clubs will hold their latest teleconference call tomorrow to discuss proposals for a possible June resumption.

Mings said: “We have got training plans. Every club is different.

“Some people are getting together on Zoom calls as a team, some are doing work individually.

“I have a fitness plan, a structure of the week in terms of when to do certain runs.

“It is not ideal. I have a football pitch near me, a local pitch, and I just do it in on there. It is better than road running.

“Everyone will come back in different shapes and sizes when we come back because we don’t usually get his much time off in the summer.

“It’s strange to be honest. There is never this much time when you are just doing your own thing and it is tough mentally, I am not going to lie.”

As part of Villa’s leadership group, Mings is helping to co-ordinate the club’s contributions to the #playerstogether fund which takes donations for NHS Charities Together.

The 27-year-old is also planning to open his academy free to the children of key workers when the pandemic is over.

He said: “The best thing which will come from this is the appreciation people will give to NHS workers, from politicians to the everyday man in society.

“They are doing this work day-in, day-out. It is only now people are thinking ‘wow, these guys are doing such good work’. The reality is they do it throughout the year.

“We talk about our situation and that it is tough for footballers but there are a lot of people out there with the resources we don’t have.”