Leeds reported to be latest Yorkshire club to test positive after virus testing
LEEDS UNITED were responsible for “at least one” of the Championship’s latest wave of positive coronavirus tests, according to reports.
Huddersfield Town and Sheffield Wednesday have admitted to being amongst the six clubs who collectively returned nine positives in Covid-19 tests at the start of this week. Like Preston North End, they say they had one case each.
Leeds’s policy has been not to comment on the results of the twice-weekly tests. The Football League (EFL) simply announce overall figures for the division twice weekly, and clubs are not obliged to say how many if any of their employees have tested positive, or who they are.
Hull City and Middlesbrough have also produced positive results during previous tests, which take in players and staff.
The tests were a pre-condition of clubs being allowed to return to training.
The last two rounds of Premier League tests have thrown up just one positive, from Tottenham Hotspur, from a combined 2,227 tests. By contrast, the Championship has returned 17 from its last two rounds, which amounted to 2,152.
The most recent tests came at the start of the week when Championship players were allowed to resume contact training for the first time since matches were suspended because of the pandemic, although at many clubs, including Wednesday, they were taken before that happened.
Although an infection rate of 0.79 per cent is still very low, a higher ratio than in the Premier League will increase the pressure from those who think English football’s second tier is being too hasty in its return. Leeds are strong advocates of a return to playing, even though their chances of winning the title and promotion would probably be greater if they did not.
Leeds are top of the table, seven points clear of the play-off places. All Championship sides have nine matches to play. The Football League is proposing if the division cannot be completed the top two team on points-pergame – currently Leeds and West Bromwich Albion – be automatically promoted.
Whites chief executive Angus Kinnear recently wrote: “It would
be a national embarrassment if the Bundesliga, La Liga or Serie A were to be able to complete (the 2019-20 season) safely and the first and fifth biggest leagues in the world (the Premier League and the Championship) were not able to follow suit if the context remained comparable.”
The Football League has set a provisional return date of June 20. Although Sheffield United resume on June 17, it is the weekend the bulk of Premier League sides return, despite an extra week’s contact training, something managers including Sheffield Wednesday’s Garry Monk are unhappy with.
The Football League wants to complete the season, including play-offs, before the end of July, which may mean squeezing nine matches into around 32 days.
Monk has called for a oneweek delay, claiming that as Championship clubs returned to contact training a week later than the Premier League sides, its managers were working on the understanding their restart date would reflect that.
There are valid arguments about how much training players need before they can be expected to perform at elite level. Players in Germany’s Bundesliga have had a much longer preparation period, yet still saw injuries three times the normal in their first three rounds of matches.
On the other hand, the longer the delay, the more condensed the matches will be, which also increases the risk of injury.
Huddersfield said their positive result came from an asymptomatic “member of the training-ground support staff ”, adding: “We will continue to strictly adhere to the EFL’s return to training protocols, ensuring that Canalside remains a safe environment for the players and staff.”