Uwe Huenemeier says he was totally confident about being part of the Bundesliga’s return to action.

But the former Albion defender accepts there were a few things to get used to as football returned after the coronavirus-enforced shutdown.

His Paderborn side might even have benefited from the environment of paying behind closed doors as they drew 0-0 at Dusseldorf on Saturday.

Huenemeier completed the full 90 minutes while former Albion colleague Markus Suttner started for the home team and played for an hour.

Dusseldorf dominated but were denied by the woodwork as they stayed in the promotion/relegation play-off position. Paderborn remain bottom of the table.

It was a hard-fought point and clean sheet for Paderborn and that was where the empty stands might have helped them.

Dusseldorf’s average home attendance this season is just short of 40,000.

Huenemeier said: “In most terms it felt like a normal game once the match started.

“But Düsseldorf hit the post twice and normally that gives the home team a big lift because the crowd reacts to that. It didn’t happen this time.

“When they hit the post, it just felt like a normal shot and they had missed by ten yards.

“Normally it puts more pressure on and they create more chances and maybe the home team gets on top of you.

“That didn’t happen so that was the only thing where I realised it felt different.”

The day itself, though, was a new experience. Or even the week leading up to the return to playing.

Paderborn spent that week in quarantine, away from families, as they stepped up training.

As per the rules, they had one of their two weekly Covid-19 tests the day before the game. The other comes during the week.

Huenemeier said: “We travelled with 20 players and I would say ten staff.

“We went in two coaches because we are not allowed to sit next to each other.

“As soon as we got to the hotel, we had to wear masks whenever we were in the lobby or any public area.

“We had our own floor in the hotel. As soon as we were on our own floor, we were allowed to take our masks off.

“You have to get used to wearing your mask pretty much all the time and wherever you are in the hotel apart from your own floor."

There was some suggestion in the media that Paderborn were reluctant to go out for the match.

But Huenemeirer said: "I think I can say that no one was really scared of playing.

“We feel really comfortable with all the restrictions and really comfortable with the German league’s plan.

“We felt quite happy to play and we waited a long time for that.

“We are the first country that is allowed to play football games again, of course in different circumstances. But there were no concerns at all.”

Huenemeier did not see fans congregating at the stadium and is not aware of any such problems.

He said: “I haven’t heard anything about that or anything from different cities.

“I think the fans all stayed at home, pretty much, so they listened to the government, which is pretty good.

“Of course you have fans at bigger clubs who are not really happy that we started playing again.

“In general, the set-up was totally different. It was a little bit strange when you turn up to the stadium.

“There are no cameras or security guys in the tunnel.

“We all had to wear our masks whenever we were running through a public area.

“Even when we went out to warm-up, we had to wear our masks and as soon as we hit the pitch we could take them off.

“The teams can’t go out at the same time. There are a lot of restrictions.

“It feels a little bit like a friendly game with all the surroundings.

“But, as soon as the referee blows the whistle, it is a football game and you have to be ready.”

Players were allowed home after the game but will follow something akin to lockdown guidelines, even though the restrictions are no longer in place for the nation as a whole.

Huenemeier said: “We have been in quarantine for one week but now it’s up to us players to stay sensible with the whole situation.

“We know if there is a new positive case of Covid-19 maybe they will lock down the season again so we have to be really careful.

“We have two days off and then back in training on Tuesday morning as normal.

“We are encouraged to keep as sensible as we have been.

“A lot of things are easing up in society here. You can go to restaurants and all the shops are open again but they encourage us to stay at home as much as we can.

“Don’t give yourself a chance to get infected by other people.”

So much for health and safety. Another key question to tackle during Project Restart will be players’ preparation to resume top-level competition.

Huenemeier reported very tired legs on Saturday evening but was fine by yesterday.

Paderborn made full use of the new facility allowing five substitutions while their hosts made four changes.

He said: “I would say we did two weeks of proper training.

“We were in training for three weeks before that but it was small groups and without contact.

“It wasn’t easy but, in the circumstances, it was okay.

“Of course, after such a long time you cannot be at 100% straight away.

“I think most players felt that in the last ten or 15 minutes but I think that is pretty normal.

“Maybe you’ve got the same at the beginning of the season.

“Of course, you’ve got more friendly games ahead of that.

“We didn’t have any friendly games, just games behind closed doors against each other. It’s not the same and we didn’t play that long.

“I haven’t heard about a lot of injuries during the first games, which is pretty positive.

“Most teams used the extra two subs and I think they made some good decisions.”

Huenemeier is aware how much interest there was globally in the German league this weekend.

That said, Albion chief executive Paul Barber and head coach Graham Potter are among those to point out that England isn’t Germany.

Different leagues and different nations have their own challenges and must make their own decisions.

Huenemeier is, likewise, unwilling to offer an opinion on what Premier League clubs should do as they meet again today.

But he knows how he feels about the resumption.

He said: “It’s difficult for me to say because I don’t really know what is going on in England right now.

“I’ve seen you are definitely two, three or four weeks behind us in terms of flattening the curve.

“You have got a lot more infections and a lot more people who died from Covid-19.

“I have to say Germany has done a brilliant job of keeping the virus as small as it is right now.

“I feel really comfortable and I think no one in our team is really scared of Covid-19 anymore.

“But we respect the situation and we have to be sensible, especially now we are back home.”