FA Cup under threat as Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough latest clubs hit by Covid-19

A mandatory round of Football League testing has highlighted the scale of infections, but the increase to twice-weekly checks which will now follow has been welcomed by Yorkshire football.

The number of positives returned by Shrewsbury Town has seen their FA Cup match against Southampton postponed, whilst the game due to kick off the latest stage of the competition, between Aston Villa and Liverpool, is under threat after the Midlands club were forced to close their facilities.

But with new rules that could see clubs thrown out of the competition if they are unable to play ties before the fourth round kicks off on January’s penultimate weekend, the Owls were quick to say they will travel to League Two Exeter City, albeit without caretaker manager Neil Thompson and temporary assistants Lee Bullen and Steven Haslam, who are isolating after positives.

Clubs can only postpone FA Cup ties if they have fewer than 14 players. Decisions on whether they will be thrown out of the competition will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Derby County will send a youth team to their game at Conference North Chorley with caretaker manager Wayne Rooney and his players in isolation. Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock has been saying for some time he thought the FA Cup offered a good opportunity to field younger players, and his and Wednesday’s teams may be heavy with them.

League One Doncaster Rovers have this week come out of a period of isolation which had sidelined them since December 22, and manager Darren Moore does not expect to be able to name a full nine-man substitute’s bench at Championship Blackburn Rovers. Their latest test results are due today.

“Not everybody will be available,” he cautioned. “We’ve been filtering them in day by day, they’ve not returned as a group. They seem okay but we’re training and looking for any adverse reactions. You’re consistently asking if they’re okay.

“We’ve just been trying to get their sharpness back.

“The guys have been doing individual work (whilst the training ground has been shut) so it’s just been more strength and conditioning work. In terms of the fitness side, I don’t think they’ll have lost much but their touch of the ball, the combinations and the understandings are more what we’ve been working at since they’ve come back in. On top of that we’ve worked on the tactical things this week and we’ll be working on both aspects today.”

Like many in the lower leagues, Moore welcomed the new twice-weekly testing, paid for by the Professional Footballers’ Association. The previous regime of testing was very infrequent because clubs were expected to fund it.

“Certainly at League One and Two level it’s much-needed,” he commented. “With the multitude of games and the travelling it’s important everybody’s clear.

“We’ve gone back to really making sure any meetings take a certain amount of time, players travel individually, no mass gatherings for any sustained period, all the fundamentals like keeping a close distance.

“Nothing is more important than the health and safety of everybody.”

Although Moore says the authorities are opposed to extending the season, his League One counterpart Grant McCann believes more Covid-19 postponements are inevitable. McCann’s Hull City were due to be at Wigan Athletic for a televised game tomorrow evening, but will now play at Sunderland.

“You could be good on a Monday, for example, players could test positive on a Monday afternoon then all of a sudden your plans change,” he said. “So you’ve got to be open to the idea of changing your opponent very quickly at short notice, and I think the EFL are open to it.

“If they have to extend the season by a month, then so be it, but I think it is important that we finish the season.”

Tigers midfielder George Honeyman added: “A lot of lads live with family members and if I was in their boat I’d want to know straight away if I’d caught it because the bugbear is having it and not knowing anything about it. Hopefully things move smoother in the future with less last-minute cancelling of games.”

Bradford City defender Anthony O’Connor is the sort of player Honeyman had in mind.

“I’ve just had a baby girl so being healthy around my kids is important for me,” he said. “It is going to be important not just for our families but so we can carry on the season.”

The Bantams, who are at Scunthorpe United in League Two tomorrow, returned no positives tests this week, something joint interim manager Conor Sellars called “a big relief”.

“It gives everybody confidence,” he continued.

“We just want the games to happen but there will be hurdles and obstacles along the way.”

Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver added: “Players do embrace when they’re celebrating goals, and the lads want to know when they’re marking a player at a corner, for example, that it’s safe to do so, because he’s been tested and wouldn’t be on the pitch if he had the virus.”

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