Derry City manager Declan Devine hoping for good news

However, Devine is hopeful there will be some positive news to emerge this week in terms of the resumption of the 2020 Airtricity League season.

“Obviously I’m disappointed the tournament is cancelled, but hopefully we’ll get some news with regards some format for the start of the season,” he said.

“You hear one thing one day and then something different the next, so what we are doing at the minute is staying very tight as a group and doing some light training sessions.

“We can’t really step things up until we know when our games are going to take place. With the tournament now cancelled we hope that we have some news this week in terms of knowing when we are going to be starting back.”

With UEFA’s Executive Committee holding a meeting tomorrow, it’s expected details on the format of the qualifying competitions for next season’s Champions League and Europa League will be announced upon its conclusion.

Lars-Christer Olsson, the president of the European Leagues organisation, said the access list for the competitions would not be altered in terms of the clubs that will enter qualifying, but that there would not be time to play home and away qualifiers before the new European season resumed in October.

“The formats will have to be adjusted, because the conditions for travelling will vary across different countries,” Olsson said. “This will be worked on up until Wednesday’s meeting but due to the number of match days available, it means it may have to be single matches rather than home or away. It is yet to be decided if these are played on a neutral ground, or one club is drawn at home.”

For Devine, any news on next season’s Europa League is encouraging and he hopes League of Ireland sides can return to action sooner rather than later.

“Hopefully this week we’ll also get some news with regards Europe,” he added. “Whether it’s going to be one leg, two legs or neutral venues home and away.

“So that will be a big thing for us to find out the dates for that and then hopefully the clubs can get some sort of financial package to get football back.”

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