Watford head coach Nigel Pearson has said the integrity of the Premier League has already been affected by the outbreak of coronavirus and that playing games at neutral venues is not something he is in favour of.

Scott Duxbury, the club's chief executive and chairman, released a statement earlier this month explaining why he felt the league's plan to use neutral grounds was "not fair" and Pearson has since echoed those sentiments.

"The integrity of the competition's already been affected," he said. "I'm definitely not in favour of that [neutral venues] I don't agree with it - it's a simple answer."

However, Pearson does have some sympathy with those trying to get the season back up and running and understands that not everyone will be happy with the solution once it is agreed, with individual circumstances making it an impossible task to please everyone.

Personally, the Watford boss has already been affected by the return to training, as his father has had to move out of the family home where he had been staying since the beginning of the outbreak.

"It's very difficult," he said. "They're trying to look for a solution to the season and it would also be fair to say that whatever the outcome is, somebody won't agree with the situation. To find a solution that suits everybody is going to be very very difficult and they're just trying to look at it purely from a position of 'how do we get the players back training' but individuals within it have got the right to look at their own circumstances.

"Because I'm back at work now, the circle of contacts that I'm potentially in the same area or workplace as has grown, I've gone from about five contacts up to about 50 now. So it's no longer safe for my dad to be living with us, so he's gone home, so we'll have to try and find different solutions to keep him safe.

"That's an example of how it might affect people, but let's not confuse having your own personal hat on and your work hat. They're two different things for me in the sense that the most important thing for me is the health and wellbeing of my family and myself.

"Am I at a greater risk coming back to work? Statistically, probably yes. But do I feel safe at work? I think we're taking every precaution that we can. We're trying to find a normality and I have to say the players have been fantastic this week. The players and staff have worked really hard, the club's been brilliant in supporting the players. The club's been fantastic at finding solutions to making the workplace safe for everybody, so I think that tells you that we are committed to getting ourselves back up and running, but you can't compromise people's health and wellbeing."