RICHARD O’Donnell would be against finishing the football season behind closed doors – on the grounds of personal safety.

Playing the remaining fixtures in empty grounds without a crowd is one possible solution currently being mooted.

The game’s authorities continue to thrash out ideas of how and when football can resume once the coronavirus pandemic eases and whether there will be enough time to play the current suspended campaign to its conclusion.

City had nine games to go in League Two when the plug was pulled just over three weeks ago.

Keeper O’Donnell believes that playing the season through to the end is the right thing to do.

But he is not happy with the prospect of fulfilling the rest of the schedule in a behind closed-doors scenario.

O’Donnell said: “It goes without saying that the season has got to finish. It’s just a case of as and when.

“But playing closed doors games is not something I’d want to do. It’s got to be the last resort.

“If we’re having to play behind closed doors, there’s obviously a reason for that.

“Should we still be playing if we’re not allowed to have crowds in? I’m not sure.”

It is unlikely at this stage that football will be able to get underway again until June at the earliest – three months after the last games.

“It will be just like starting from scratch,” admitted O’Donnell. “It’s the teams and people who are doing things right at home and not switching off who will probably succeed better.

“That’s not saying if you do thing everything right, you will have a good end to the season. We’re all in the same situation where nobody is kicking a ball around.

“But you’ve got to give yourselves the best opportunity by ticking over and doing everything right.”

Teams will gear up for a hectic run-in, as the governing bodies try to finish the remaining games in the shortest time possible.

Putting back the Euros by a year means the 2020/21 season must end on time.

But O’Donnell stressed it was still important that there is a proper break between the two.

He added: “You need at least a month away from the place. People will argue we’re not doing anything now but we’re still working physically.

“Next season is going to start later, so more games will have to be crammed in because of the Euros being rearranged.

“More will have to be squeezed into a tight space of time. But it’s still important that there’s a break in between.

“Otherwise more people will get injured. You need that time to switch off mentally and physically and the body needs that time to recover.

“I hope the people high up still understand that.

“The end of this season is going to be crammed in and the next one is going to be the same. There are going to be a lot of Saturdays and Tuesdays (playing games) as well.”

City last played 28 days ago at Salford. The training ground was closed off the following weekend after a member of the coaching staff complained of suffering from symptoms linked with COVID-19.

The club last week announced that they had put staff on furlough.