Albion players are working from home as they hope to resume action in May.

The squad are being provided with fitness equipment to help them keep in shape during the shutdown forced by coronavirus.

They are tackling by far the longest in-season lay-off the club has ever known.

They could also have to prepare for Albion’s shortest ever close season should 2019-20 be completed in late spring or summer. But no one is looking that far ahead just yet.

All fixtures have been postponed until April 30 at the earliest and there is provision for the season to go past the usual cut-off date of June 1.

There is as yet no indication as to how the fixtures could be completed although Albion will, as things stand, have six games to reschedule.

There remains absolute commitment to finish the season.

Technical director Dan Ashworth has worked with head coaches Graham Potter and Hope Powell to devise training schedules for men’s and women’s teams.

Albion chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber said: “Having postponed matches until at least April 30, we have also postponed training at both Lancing and Sussex University for the next two weeks to limit the risk to our senior men’s and women’s squads respectively.

“Instead they have been issued with individual training programmes with the view to returning to training in mid-April and resuming playing action in early May for both teams.

“These programmes are to be carried out at home and we are working with the players in both squads to ensure they have the right equipment supplied by the club to carry out those individual training programmes,”

Albion had never previously gone more than 22 days without a match within a season, which happened in January,1966.

They are currently in the relatively early stages of a lay-off which will last at least 54 days.

Albion’s shortest ever period between two seasons was 69 days.

That came in 2004, when they won the League One play-off final against Bristol City at the end of May and kicked off the Championship campaign at Reading.

About 90% of non-playing Albion staff are also working from home.