AFC Mansfield chairman relieved as fans and NCEL prepares for a return to action

The league will return on 19th December after a deal was agreed to allow 150 fans to attend matches.

And Saunders is confident that the agreed limit is high enough to satisfy the vast majority of clubs.

“It is a relief that we are starting again,” he said. “150 fans should satisfy 85/90 per cent of clubs.

“Most clubs don't get any more than that so we can carry on now. Everyone wants to start playing football again.”

The Bulls re-start their season at Hemsworth, with Saunders hopeful that the season can now finish with a natural conclusion.

“We are just taking it game by game at the moment,” he said. It is going to be a difficult time between now and the end of May.

“We will be playing Tuesday/Saturday/Tuesday a lot and there will be cases where we lose games due to bad weather.

“It is going to take its toll this year, but hopefully we can get through to the end of the season.

“The only problem with midweek is the crowds don't tend to be as good as on a Saturday and it's harder to get the volunteers as well in midweek..

“At the end of the day, we are just pleased to be playing football again.”

An NCEL statement said: “At tonight's League Management Board meeting, it was decided to resume as soon as was feasible so the campaign will restart on 19th December.“The matches originally scheduled for that date and for Boxing Day will be added back to the fixtures schedule.”