Former England striker Emile Heskey coaching Buxton youngsters

The ex-Liverpool and Leicester City attacker is working toward his UEFA B Licence coaching qualification with the PFA.

As part of the course Heskey – the current Leicester City Ladies manager – has been making visits to the Tarmac Silverlands Arena, delivering multiple sessions with the Bucks’ academy squad.

Heskey – who also turned out for Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa – has been making time to talk to the students about his many experiences throughout his illustrious career and answer their questions.

Buxton’s next contest looks set to be Boxing Day’s Northern Premier League derby at home to Matlock Town.

Clubs in the NPL can return to action from Saturday – if both teams are in agreement. However, only two matches – Mickleover versus Radcliffe and Stalybridge versus Matlock – have been scheduled to go ahead. The Trident Leagues – NPL, Southern League and Isthmian League – had agreed to postpone action following lockdown due to a number of clubs being under tier three restrictions.

This meant they would be operating without fans in attendance, meaning running at a financial loss on matchdays.

However, the rules changed on December 10, with tier three clubs given the green light to let in up to 15 per cent of capacity.

A statement issued by the NPL read: “Following the announcement made on December 10 that confirmed the return of spectators to grounds in tier three areas, we subsequently received a high number of requests from NPL teams asking to play league fixtures from Saturday, December 19.

“In view of the number of requests the Northern Premier League board has taken the decision to permit clubs who are in agreement to play their league fixtures on Saturday, December 19 with a 3pm kick off.

“Otherwise we will look to resume the published league fixture schedule from Saturday, December 26 for all clubs.

“This decision is that of the board of the Northern Premier League.”