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Premier League players treated like 'lab rats, guinea pigs' - Newcastle's Rose

Newcastle United defender Danny Rose has said Premier League players are being treated like "lab rats" after teams were given permission to return to training in small groups this week.

Rose, who is on loan from Tottenham, has been a vocal critic of the league's plans to restart the season, which has been suspended since mid-March due to the coronavirus outbreak.

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The league said on Tuesday that six people from three different clubs had tested positive for coronavirus out of a sample of 748 individuals.

"People are suggesting we should go back to football, like we're guinea pigs or lab rats," Rose told the Lockdown Tactics podcast. "We're going to experiment this phase and see if it works or not.

"I can just imagine people at home saying, 'Well they earn that amount of money so they should be going back.'

"For stuff like that I think is it worth the hassle? I could be potentially risking my health for people's entertainment and that's not something I want to be involved in if I'm honest."

Watford defender Adrian Mariappa said that he was one of three people at the club to test positive, while captain Troy Deeney has said he will not resume training out of concern for his son's health.

Burnley also said assistant coach Ian Woan was among those to return a positive result after being tested on Sunday.