Sheffield Wednesday boss Garry Monk says his players are having to cope with “little niggles” as they prepare to face Nottingham Forest.
The Reds will get their Championship campaign back underway on Saturday week, when they make the trip to Hillsborough.
It will be a first taste of competitive action for both clubs since March, when the season was suspended due to the coronavirus crisis.
This is only the third week back in training for second tier sides.
Forest played a friendly against Premier League Wolves earlier this week, winning 2-0, and the Owls are also stepping up their preparations ahead of the league clash between the two teams.
“We have only been in contact training for a week,” Monk told the club website. “We play on Saturday and then have over a week until the game, followed by a tough schedule of playing every three days.
“Ideally, and we lobbied for this in the managers’ meetings, you would have that week’s break after five games to assess where the players are, you don’t really need that full week after the first game.
“But we understand how difficult the period has been for everyone, the EFL the authorities, everyone, but our concern is our players and preparations.
“It’s about getting the balance right to get minutes in the legs but without overdoing it.
“We have got one more week and then an extremely heavy period of games and we are having little niggles.
“But if you haven’t played and trained normally for 10 weeks, these things will happen but it’s the same for everyone and we are getting on with it.”
Sabri Lamouchi’s men will be targeting a top six finish when they take to the pitch again, currently sitting fifth in the table.
Their first opponents are 15th, but had been struggling for form prior to the break in play.
The match - as with all others this term - will take place behind closed doors, and Monk has outlined some of the protocols which will be in place.
“The protocols have come through, we understand them and what is required,” he said.
“For home games there are different ‘zones’ to respect in terms of risks, the players, the warm-ups, the distancing and all that side of it is in place.
“The away travel is a little more tricky, for example we have to consider the numbers on the coach, we may have to double up on coaches, trains, hotels.
“But we’ve all said from the start, the fairest way is on the pitch and everyone agrees and now we are getting on with it and preparing the players as best as possible.”
