Exeter struck by fresh Covid outbreak in squad
EXETER City will be without Kyle Taylor for tomorrow’s game at home to Walsall after the midfielder has tested positive for Covid-19, writes Daniel Clark.
Grecians boss Matt Taylor revealed that the ex-Bournemouth man has returned a positive test for the virus and therefore is undergoing his mandatory ten days of isolation.
It will rule out the 22-year-old from Saturday’s League Two clash and Tuesday night’s EFL Trophy tie at Cheltenham Town - but he might be out of isolation in time for the trip to Stevenage next weekend.
And City could be without a second player for the St James Park encounter as another individual within the group has developed ‘Covid-related symptoms’ and being tested on Thursday
“We have lost one definite player with Covid in Kyle Taylor,” the manager said, when asked about squad news for the weekend.
“And we have another player with some sort of symptoms who is getting tested as we speak, so we might be minus two.
“We have been conscious to test the group this week on the back of a Covid case coming when they were all on a coach and in a hotel together on Friday and Saturday for a long period.
“It is a slightly different challenge and one we have not had for a few weeks but it shows it is still apparently within society.”
City had a disrupted start to the season after a handful of cases during pre-season, with Alfie Pond and Nelson Iseguan among those to test positive, before Alex Hartridge on the eve of the opening day and Sam Nombe shortly after also caught Covid.
But a round of tests that followed returned negative results, with all results having been negative until this week.
Infection rates in Exeter are currently below the national average and have been fairly static in recent weeks, with cases only up five per cent over the last seven days.