Tyrone Mings believes that the reason for the Premier League's return is solely down to money and not the integrity of English football's top-flight.

The Aston Villa defender will be involved in the opening double header when the action resumes with the Birmingham club set to host Sheffield United on the same day Arsenal face Manchester City on 17 June.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Mings said that the decision to resume the season amid the coronavirus pandemic is financially driven.

"The motives are possibly 100 per cent financially driven rather than integrity driven," said Mings.

"I am all for playing again because we have no other choice. As players, we were the last people to be consulted about Project Restart and that is because of where we fall in football's order of priority.

"That isn't a problem. We are commodities in the game and we accept that."

The Premier League clubs returned to non-contact training twelve days ago and were given the go-ahead to begin contact training earlier this week.

Some players have voiced concerns and opted not to go back to training but Mings feels that nothing is going to stop the games going ahead.

"We got the option to come back to training and that's fine because we didn't have to but if the FA and the EFL and the Government and UEFA and the Premier League all say you are going back to play, it really doesn't make any difference what the players think because you are going back to play.

"It is get in or get out."

One of the players who voiced concerns about a return was Watford captain Troy Deeney who was worried about the health of his baby son who has suffered with breathing difficulties.

The striker's fears were allayed by the players' meetings with health experts and he will return to training this week but he also revealed that he had received online abuse for his initial stance.

Mings spoke out against any such anger being expressed towards players.

"It is important that players are given the choice. It's a personal thing. If you don't want to do it, you absolutely don't have to," said Mings.

"People have aired their concerns about families' health and I back those people 100 per cent. That is something people have to take into consideration really carefully.

"No one should ever be on the end of personal abuse for making a decision based on their families' needs or health needs."

While Mings believes that the football's return in England is all down to money, he does not feel that he is in a position to complain.

"Project Restart is financially driven. I think everybody accepts that," added Mings.

"But that's fine with me because I look at this monster that is Premier League football and the revenue it creates and I didn't moan about being a part of it when everything was great so I'm not going to moan now when the atmosphere around the game is more hesitant."