Watford legend John Barnes is not expecting players to be affected by the lack of supporters in stadiums when the Premier League restarts next week.

The former England international acknowledged there would be a degree of strangeness without fans generating atmosphere inside the grounds, but believes players will not let it get to them.

"Players train with intensity and determination on a daily basis, so playing without supporters and the noise shouldn’t be an issue," he told BonusCode Bets.

"It’ll probably be a bit strange, especially when scoring, as there won’t be anyone there cheering when you’re doing your backflips or whatever, but other than that, I think players are just happy to be back to some kind of normality; but also knowing that they’ll be watched by millions of people on TV. And for now, that’s very positive and a step in the right direction."

The players have not played a competitive game since the beginning of March and some, including Watford's Christian Kabasele, have expressed concerns about the potential for injury, especially given the tight schedule.

However, Barnes feels that there is less of a chance of injuries now than at the start of a normal season.

"There’s a lot of talk about players having a greater chance of getting injured after the layoff, when the Premier League returns in just over a week," he said.

"However, I really don’t agree with this. We have a long layoff every year at the end of the season but in fact there is a difference in the layoff triggered by Covid-19 as players have been busy doing exercises…at least most of them. So therefore they will come back in a better state than what they would at the start of the season.

"But of course there will be injuries, but those injuries won't be down to the fact that they've had a long layoff. I'll probably say there are lesser injuries, coming back now, then coming back up at the beginning of a season after you've had longer layoffs and they're probably putting on a few pounds by eating more and drinking alcohol."

Looking ahead Barnes is expecting the future of football to be changed by the coronavirus outbreak, including the way clubs spend money.

"At this stage we don't even know the ramifications of how hard hit jobs are going to be moving forward," he said. "In the short term, I would think the next year or two, or however long it'll takes us to get back to normal, we’ll experience less money spent of players and perhaps less transfers. We’ll probably see clubs becoming savvier and who knows, this may be something positive in the long run."