OXFORD City Stars believe they are in a relatively secure position to handle the cancellation of their season.

The English National League have made the decision to scrap the campaign in response to the coronavirus crisis, with a further decision on what happens next due in May.

Stars had five fixtures remaining of the regular season, having already postponed last Sunday’s clash after a player in the visiting Invicta Dynamos squad was self-isolating.

The measures aimed at dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak are causing big headaches across sport.

But Greig Box Turnbull, one of Stars’ directors, is confident measures taken this season to make the club more self-sufficient have increased their security.

He said: “We are fortunate compared to other sports we’re not tied into a lot of contracts and we are able to end them reasonably cleanly.

“The club is in a reasonably healthy financial position. I think we have done a decent job of making the club more sustainable.”

The main expenditure left outstanding is for the bookings of ice time at the Oxpens rink.

But looking ahead, there are plenty of loose ends to tie up.

They include Paul Gore, who took over as head coach less than three weeks ago on a contract until the end of the season.

Box Turnbull said: “The most important thing then is to speak to Paul about what he can commit to next season.

“We would love him to stay, he’s been a breath of fresh air.

“Then we would look at which players he wants to keep and recruit.

“The players will be keen to know where they stand.

“Normally we would have a clearer picture on next season.

“We would like to think it will start in September as normal.

But it remains to be seen how negatively our sponsors are affected heading into next season. “

He added: “A big thing for me would be thanking everybody who has supported the club this year.”