DAVID Ball faces the prospect of being stuck away from his young family in another country for the next six weeks as part of football’s lockdown against the coronavirus.

The former City forward is currently holed up in self-isolation with his team Wellington Phoenix in Australia.

The A League are keeping all its teams in Sydney in a bid to finish the season playing games behind closed doors at two grounds in the city.

But it means he has been forced to leave behind wife Sarah and their two children in New Zealand. A team-mate has not even been able to see his new-born baby.

Ball, who was one of the few bright spots in last season’s relegation from League One, admits it is a difficult situation.

“Everybody is making sacrifices to be over here,” he told the T&A.

“My eight-year-old understands what is going on. But I have to tell the younger one how many sleeps it’s going to be before dad can come home.

“We’ve got 14 days to look after ourselves then hopefully the league continues when we finish self-isolation. Our next game would be April 5.

“It’s like being in a pre-season camp out of the way in Sydney.

“We get to train, come back into our rooms and go for food but we’ve obviously got to stay away from anyone else.

“It’s pretty strict here, similar to the UK in terms of the self-isolation rules.

“When we came into Sydney, we were given a form explaining what we could and couldn’t do.

“At least it’s more that what’s going on back home from what I’ve heard speaking to friends and family.

“I don’t think I’ll see the UK again until next summer now. It’s like the world has shut down.

“It’s a situation that nobody could have envisaged so we’ve just got to make the most of the family time at home.”

Ball, who signed a two-year deal last summer with Wellington after finishing his Valley Parade loan, is not even sure what will happen when he tries to fly back to New Zealand.

“New Zealand acted quite quickly about this and Australia followed soon after,” he added. “So we knew there was a chance that something like this could happen.

“But New Zealand are now shutting the borders to non-residents. It affects me slightly because I’m on a working visa.

“We’ll have to get some clarity from immigration that I can get back in. But you’d like to think they will use some common sense.

“We’ve got a Mexican lad in the squad whose partner has just had their first child.

“She flew back to Mexico three weeks ago to have the baby. He was supposed to get two weeks back there but he obviously wasn’t able to be at the birth.

“He has not even met his child yet because she’s over with his family.”

Ball had scored in three of the last four games for third-placed Phoenix, the latest in their 3-0 home win over Melbourne Victory on Sunday.

He said: “We had to get on the first flight possible afterwards because Australia have started a self-isolation policy of 14 days for anyone coming into the country.

“It’s tough but we’ve had a really good season and want to finish well."