OXFORD United’s players are in a state of limbo, but skipper John Mousinho says they are among the lucky ones.

The squad were due to be back in today to restart training after a week away so their base at Horspath could be deep-cleaned.

But in the wake of the EFL’s decision to push the coronavirus-enforced suspension back from April 3 to the end of next month, the plan has changed.

Now the advice from authorities is to avoid training as a group until at least April 3.

While Mousinho is in his 15th season as a professional, this is all uncharted territory.

Karl Robinson: Five games which have defined his two years at Oxford United

The U’s captain admitted it was a strange time, but given the hardships affecting others across the country there is a sense that it could be worse for the players.

He said: “I don’t know the ins and outs of it, but I think the lads are OK for now in terms of their contracts.

“The one thing that’s uncertain is there are plenty of lads whose wives or girlfriends are self-employed or work in industries that have been really affected.

“We’re lucky in that sense we’ll be getting paid.

“The atmosphere is very strange.

“There are many theories flying round, everyone’s got an idea on what’s going to happen with the season and the country.”

United’s players were given fitness programmes to follow on their own at home in a bid to stay in shape.

But that was with a view to playing again from April 4, so Mousinho believes there will now need to be a change of plan.

He said: “The programme we had made a lot of sense if we were going to be back in on Monday and have two weeks to train for the next game.

GALLERY: Karl Robinson marks two years at Oxford United

“Now with another six weeks until a possible next game it throws up a lot of problems.

“We could prepare towards that date, but how likely that is I don’t know.

“I think it’s really tricky, because there will be a real balance now between losing your fitness and having another pre-season, versus doing too much in this time and the date keeps getting pushed back.

“Obviously it’s a complete unknown and no-one has had to plan for anything like this before.

“I think just being sensible is the name of the game at the moment.”

He added: “If we can get the games back and running at some point it means there will be a sense of relief for players.”