Outbreak of virus rocks Spurs camp
TOTTENHAM’S plans to manage a busy period of games have been hindered by a coronavirus outbreak at the club.
A number of first-team players and two members of the coaching staff have tested positive.
With a must-win Europa Conference League game against Rennes tomorrow night and then Premier League games at Brighton and Leicester, Spurs’ preparations look set to be severely impacted.
They saw matches against Aston Villa and Fulham called off last season due to Covid-19, while two players posted false positive results on a lateral flow test earlier this term but were later cleared to play by a negative PCR test.
Boss Antonio Conte will be hoping something similar happens again and there are no more positive tests ahead of a crunch period.
Calling the Rennes game off appears highly unlikely as, according to UEFA rules, a team needs to have fewer than 13 available players or no registered goalkeeper available for that to be the case.
If the situation does worsen, the club could consider asking the Premier League to call off the Brighton game on Sunday.
The league works on a case-bycase basis and if a club does request a game to be postponed it would be a Premier League board decision.
Spurs have not officially commented on the situation.
Chelsea are another London club dealing with a coronavirus problem.
Boss Thomas Tuchel has revealed Mateo Kovacic has tested positive for the virus in a “huge setback” for the Blues.
Croatia midfielder Kovacic had returned to Chelsea training on Monday after hamstring trouble, only to return a positive coronavirus test yesterday.
The 27-year-old had been out of action since late October and Blues’ boss Tuchel had hoped to ease him back in this week.
N’Golo Kante remains sidelined with a knee issue, while Jorginho has been forced to play through the pain of a back niggle and will now miss tonight’s Champions League trip to Zenit.
Tuchel said: “We have had bad news because Mateo was in training yesterday and it was a pleasure to have him back.
“However, he tested positive for coronavirus so he is quarantining. It is a huge setback for him and for all of us.”