The Premier League announced its first all-clear round of Covid-19 testing on Saturday, underlining the optimism of the Government's earlier message that elite sport was back on track.

A total of 1,130 players and club personnel were tested on Thursday and Friday, with no positive results. The previous three rounds of testing had yielded 12 positive tests out of 2,752.

These included Watford defender Adrian Mariappa, who returned a positive test in the first round of testing, but he was able to return to training last week.

This bout of testing was the largest yet, with each club's maximum allocation upped from 50 to 60, and also the first to take place since the unanimous vote to begin contact training.

There was a reminder of virus' continued presence by the EFL's subsequent results, which brought 10 positive cases from 1,058 in the Championship and seven more from just 135 taken by those in League Two.

But for now, the absence of any live cases in the top-flight will be seen as a positive for the scheduled restart date of June 17.