If the referee deems the injury to be of a serious nature and stops play the match will be re-started with a drop ball and team in possession at the time play was stopped will have the ball returned to their goalkeeper.

Keith Hackett, General Manager of the PGMO, said:

"We discussed the 'play on' protocol with all the Premier League managers in our pre-season meetings. The feeling was that the decision on whether to stop play for an injured player or not should rest with match officials. It was felt matches are too often brought to a halt unnecessarily, which breaks the flow of the game.

waved on

"With head injuries and those that are clearly of a very serious nature the referee will take the appropriate action.

"Of course teams with a player down injured can choose to put the ball out of play, but they shouldn't expect to get the ball back.

"This protocol has now been adopted by the FA and UEFA in their competitions as well, so players and fans should get used to play being waved on by referees."