Clubs on Wednesday night stood accused of failing to do enough to look after their players’ emotional well-being after it emerged that Aaron Lennon had been detained under the Mental Health Act.

The head of player welfare at the Professional Footballers’ Association claimed that some teams needed to do more to meet their “duty of care” obligations and revealed that more current and former players than ever were coming forward to seek help.

Michael Bennett joined Nigel Clough, the Burton Albion manager, in suggesting that clubs prioritised their players’ physical well-being at the expense of their mental health.

“For me, personally, the PFA are doing what we’re doing and kind of leading the way in regards to that,” Bennett told The Telegraph. “But you want then to get the clubs to buy into the process as well, because they’ve got a duty of care to their players in regards to that.

“You know what my argument is? They do a lot of work on the physical aspect of things, getting players physically fit to perform on a Saturday and a Tuesday – whenever – but not enough is done on the emotional side. I’m trying to speak with the clubs, to get them to be aware of that and see what they can do to aid that.”