POSITIVE TEST FORCES HAMMERS TO PAUSE TRAINING
WEST HAM manager David Moyes revealed last night that the club will close their training ground for a four-day deep clean after defender Ryan Fredericks tested positive for Covid-19. Moyes, who has suffered with the virus himself, said the club — now three points off fourth place — were voluntarily vacating their Chadwell Heath base. The former Everton boss said: ‘The only reason is so we can get another clean and keep people out. We’ve not been told to do that and it is not because of the one Covid player we have got. It’s mainly because we want to give the players a break and we are trying to do everything we can. We want everyone to take responsibility. The players have played three games in six days. Great credit to them and the way they went about it.’
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti deflected questions about the club’s attempts to sign Juventus midfielder Sami Khedira, as revealed by Sportsmail, saying: ‘The only truth is the market is open. We are not talking about this because we are focused to recover the players who are not available at this moment. The performance was not at the top. Compared to the last game we had more of the ball but we were not able to manage it with intensity, speed and quality in the final third.’ Moyes said that, despite the Covid diagnosis, Fredericks was ‘fine’. He added: ‘He had a positive test so we have just got on with it.’ Lukasz Fabianski missed out because he ‘felt his thigh a bit in the warm-up’. Match-winner Tomas Soucek said: ‘It’s hard playing at Christmas for the first time. Normally I have three weeks off and I eat potato salad in the Czech Republic.’