Cape Town - Jos Buttler admits that there are obvious risks to playing football in the warm-up before games and says he and his England teammates will not be bothered if the activity got canceled.

Buttler, who is England's vice-captain, said the players enjoy playing football as part of their training routine and always tried to keep things safe when playing with the round ball.

Jonny Bairstow suffered an injury to his ankle ligaments while playing football before the Test series against Sri Lanka late last year and subsequently lost his place as wicketkeeper to Ben Foakes.

The ECB's new managing director Ashley Giles, who has replaced Andrew Strauss, has stated in the past that he is uncomfortable with the national team playing football before games and will discuss it with the captains and team management.

Buttler, who is with the England team in the Caribbean ahead of a three-match Test series against the West Indies, said the players will accept any decision.

The 28-year-old Buttler said: "It's been a fun part of our warm-ups for a while and I enjoy playing it. The guys are very careful. We're not professionals but we enjoy a kick around and we try to stay as safe as possible.

"But I understand his (Giles') point of view because it probably doesn't make too much sense for us to warm up playing football. There are obvious risks.

"So if that's his final decision then that's it. There will be discussions between coaches, captains and Ashley Giles and if it's decided we can't play anymore I don't think the guys will be too bothered. We'll just get on with it."

England will start their first warm-up game, a two-day fixture, in Barbados on Tuesday with another tour game scheduled before the first Test against the Windies gets underway on 23 January.