Health secretary Matt Hancock is "deflecting blame" onto footballers by saying they should take a pay cut during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Crystal Palace winger Andros Townsend.

Hancock, who is part of a Government which has been criticised over its response to the Covid-19 outbreak, spoke out on the issue of Premier League players' pay on Thursday night.

He said at a daily briefing on the pandemic: "Given the sacrifices that many people are making, including some of my colleagues in the NHS who have made the ultimate sacrifice of going into work and have caught the disease and have sadly died, I think the first thing that Premier League footballers can do is make a contribution, take a pay cut and play their part."

Julian Knight, the chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, said on Thursday that clubs which do not institute wage cuts for players but do try to take advantage of the job retention scheme should be subject to a windfall tax.

"The purpose of the coronavirus job retention scheme is not to support the economics of Premier League clubs," Knight wrote in a letter to Premier League chief executive Richard Masters.

"Your organisation should be role modelling a responsible approach rather than tolerating divisive practices."

A decision is also expected today concerning the further suspension of English professional football.

Currently, the agreement is that football cannot return until April 30 at the earliest, but that date was put in place before the country was put into lockdown to limit the spread of the virus.