RAMS IN TALKS OVER FA CUP CLASH AS VIRUS CLOSES TRAINING GROUND
DERBY SHUT DOWN MOOR FARM TRAINING GROUND
DERBY County are liaising with the Football Association over their FA Cup tie against Chorley at the weekend.
The Rams are due to face their National League North opponents at Victory Road in a third round match on Saturday.
Derby have closed their Moor Farm training ground due to an outbreak of Covid-19.
The club announced on Tuesday night that “several first-team staff members and players have tested positive for Covid-19.”
Talks are taking place over whether the game will go ahead and, if it does, who Derby are able to field in their team.
It could be that the team will feature under-23 and under-18 players who are not in the first team bubble, although the likes of youngsters Jack Stretton, Jahmal Hector-Ingram, Knornell McDonald, Louie Watson and 16-year-old Kaide Gordon have been involved with the first team in recent games.
Although Premier League clubs have been testing twice a week, that has not been the case in the EFL this season. However, all clubs have been undergoing testing in the last few days ahead of the third round of the FA Cup.
In a recent briefing, the FA told clubs they should field a team in the FA Cup if they had 14 players available and they would not necessarily have to be from the first team squad.
Any application from a club to the FA for a postponement would be
considered on a case-by-case basis.
DERBY County’s Championship clash against Rotherham United at the New York Stadium has been rearranged.
The fixture will now be played on Tuesday, February 2 (7pm).
And the Rams’ home Championship clash against Bournemouth will be screened live on TV. The fixture at Pride Park Stadium on Tuesday, January 19, is on Sky Sports and will now kick off at 6pm.
The Rams’ original fixture against the Millers last month was postponed less than two hours before kick-off because of a Covid-19 outbreak in the Rotherham squad.
Rotherham said one player had tested positive with “further players within the first team bubble showing symptoms of the virus at present”.
The Rams’ team bus arrived at the stadium before turning round and heading back to Derby. The players did not enter the stadium.
The rearranged game will now fall between Derby’s home match against Bristol City on January 30 and the game against Barnsley at Oakwell on Saturday, February 6.