Lang, who has renewed her contract to coach the reigning Olympic champions at the Games in the Japanese capital, said the women's squad may play matches against the men's team as part of their preparations.

"Due to the pandemic, our team hasn't played even one match this year," Lang said, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

"In order to test our training methods, the women's team may play warm-up games with the men's side."

Lang, who guided China to gold at Rio 2016, has confirmed she has signed a contract extension to coach the team at Tokyo 2020, pushed back to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lang initially coached China between 1995 and 1998, with the team securing a silver medal at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.

The accomplishment saw Lang named International Volleyball Federation Coach of the Year.

Following a series of club roles, Lang had a three-year spell as head coach of the United States' national team, where she guided them to silver at Beijing 2008.

She returned for a second spell as head coach of China in 2013 and led the team to the World Cup title in 2015.

China were then crowned Olympic champions at Rio 2016 by beating Serbia in the final, before retaining the World Cup title in 2019 after a perfect tournament of 11 straight wins in Japan.

China will look to defend their Olympic title at Tokyo 2020, with the holders set to face the US, Russia, Italy, Argentina and Turkey in Pool B of the tournament.