Players told to leave injuries to the professionals

“Our message is simple - don’t do anything, we will get there and sort it out. That’s what we try to reinforce. Generally within 20 seconds we would be with a player – in fact 20 seconds would be a long time.

“The refs are pretty good. They can identify things and get you on pretty quickly. One of our players had a clash of heads [Tyrone Mings against West Brom] last month and the ref was really good, he came to us and said ‘take your time, don’t rush, make the right decision. When you’re ready, we’ll re-start.’

“The danger in pushing your fingers into the player’s mouth are that you could be bitten, but you could also push out any obstruction, for example chewing gum, further into the throat or cause more bleeding.

“[By] trying to move a player on to his side... there is a risk of aggravating an injury and potentially causing paralysis."

Roberts added: “The danger with a head injury is the associated risk of a neck injury. The adage is that when someone is knocked out, you have to assume they have a neck injury as well, until proven otherwise. Players often think they are doing the right thing by rolling them into the recovery position, but they're not.”

Bobby Barnes, deputy chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, said his members were indeed encouraged to leave medical matters to the professionals.

"There is no specific training for players to deal with other injured players on the field," he told TGG. "The focus has been on having trained medical professionals on the touchline and being able to get them onto the field of play as quickly as possible.

"The protocols have changed a lot since Petr Cech’s injury at Reading in 2006. There is now an ambulance at every ground for example."

It is also now mandatory to have a doctor from each team as well as a neutral doctor in the tunnel at all Premier League games. Staff can also review incidents immediately on a screen in the medical room. Doctors have to undertake annual refresher courses on procedure as well as an advanced resuscitation and emergency first aid course every other season, overseen by the Football Association.