Cardiff and Swansea managers 'happy' for the return of football as both teams hunt return to Premier League

Cardiff and Swansea have said they are looking forward to the season restarting.

Both of Wales' Championship sides are eyeing up a return to the Premier League when football resumes, with managers Steve Cooper and Neil Harris 'happy' to get back on the pitch.

It was announced at the weekend that the Championship football season would be allowed to return from June 20, giving both Cardiff and Swansea an official date to start training for.

All Championship clubs are now undergoing regular testing for coronavirus and despite one positive result from Cardiff, manager Neil Harris has revealed his side are delighted to be back.

"It is great for everyone to know that is the first fixture that weekend, we can plan a bit more detail in to the sessions" he continued.

"What we have found during the period is that the players have really thrown themselves into the fitness work.

"We were nervous about bringing them in but the professionalism of my players is second to none. Credit to the football industry for the way they have come back."

Swansea manager Steve Cooper echoed his rival manager, revealing that he was impressed with the condition of his players on their return to training.

Swansea's players arrived and had their own car parking spaces to make sure they obeyed by social distancing guidelines. Credit: Swansea FC

Swansea had implemented a number of measures for their players to return safely, with small numbers in sessions and segregated parking spaces.

Players also arrived in their full training kits.

"I think initially there were a lot of people that were worried that the season may not return but there is a real effort to get the show back on the road.

"We have had a week of training in Phase 1 which is in much smaller groups and no contact and now we are looking to move on to Phase 2."

The different phases of training were introduced to allow teams to train safely during the pandemic.

  • Watch the full interview with Steve Cooper below:

"It has been a long break but the lads are just looking forward to getting back to playing football as soon as they can really," Cooper continued.

"It has been interesting to see some of the players come out and speak about their tests. The testing is working which is a really good thing and it gives everyone confidence.

"The players are happy to be back and we would play tomorrow, the restart can't come back soon enough.

"We are in a good position and we are looking forward to getting back to it."

Cardiff are in 9th position in the table but are only two points away from the play-off places in sixth, whilst Swansea are in 11th position 3 points away from Preston in sixth.