Three more positive tests but City game on
MANCHESTER City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed the club will have five players unavailable for tomorrow’s Premier League game at Chelsea following positive coronavirus tests.
City’s game at Everton on Monday was postponed at short notice after three more players tested positive for Covid-19 following the positive tests returned by Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus on Christmas Day.
The latest results bring the total number of first-team personnel at the club isolating to seven, including two other staff members.
Guardiola said: “It was four people — (including) two players — the first time and then three more.”
Guardiola added that the club were not yet in a position to reveal the identities of the three latest players to test positive.
He said: “I don’t think the Premier League allows us to name the players but you will know tomorrow.”
Pressed on why this was the case, Guardiola said: “We have to respect the privacy of the players maybe. You will see the line-ups and three important players not there, so you will know exactly but I’m not allowed to tell you.”
Guardiola insisted City had enough players available to play at Everton but, with news of the positive tests only coming through late in the day, there was little alternative but to call off the game.
He said: “We had enough players to play against Everton. We wanted to play but on the day of the game, with more cases, we informed the Premier League.
“I personally called (Everton manager) Carlo Ancelotti to explain the situation because the day before we were in touch about what would happen and the huge risk.”
Everton expressed frustration after the postponement was announced, calling in a statement for “full disclosure of all the information” that led to the decision being taken.
Ancelotti was later more sincere, sending best wishes to the City staff affected.
Guardiola said: “I preferred the statement from Carlo Ancelotti than the statement from the club. We would have loved to play the game but, wisely, the Premier League decided for the welfare of everyone not to increase the cases.”
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard insists safety must take priority after his former England teammate Steven Gerrard highlighted the role of football in providing people with a distraction during the coronavirus crisis.
Rangers manager Gerrard said he was not aware of “evidence or data to suggest there is a guarantee of improvement” if a ‘circuit-breaker’ was used to help combat the escalation in Covid-19 cases, adding that the sport gives people “a release” and “something to watch”.
“I’m not sure on that one,” Lampard said. “I understand it. If you do love football you love watching the amount of games you get to watch at home. But safety has to be paramount.
“There are lots of people working at Chelsea within our bubble who have babies, parents, friends, sisters, brothers, grandparents... they come here and go to work.
“Then they go home and are in the environment where there’s another surge of the virus, which seems to be more contagious, so safety and security are paramount rather than trying to keep the nation’s spirits up.
“I know that might not be a nice thing to say, but these are tough times for everybody. We enjoy watching our football but safety and health have to come first.”