Brighton manager Graham Potter is becoming increasingly concerned about the impact rising Covid-19 cases is having on football, ahead of Saturday’s trip to Manchester United.
Potter said the Seagulls had “three or four” positive Covid-19 cases and were without seven players, including top scorer Neal Maupay and midfielder Pascal Gross.
Brighton are also missing injured centre backs Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster. And just when things couldn’t get any worst for the Seagulls, Joel Veltman limped off with a suspected hamstring injury in the dying stages of last night’s 1-0 defeat to Wolves.
Key midfielder Yves Bissouma will be suspended for the trip to the Theatre of Dreams after picking up his fifth booking of the season, against Bruno Lage’s side.
WAYNE ROONEY TO EVERTON IS A JOKE.
Potter revealed Albion were unsuccessful in their request for the clash against Wolves to be rearranged, following a Covid-19 and injury crisis at the club.
Brighton’s game against Tottenham on Sunday was postponed due to a Covid outbreak at the UEFA Conference League side, while United’s trip to Brentford on Tuesday was called off in similar circumstances. Watford’s trip to Burnley was also called off last night.
With the new more-transmissible Omicron variant circulating across the country, Potter told BBC Sport he was worried about the ‘path’ the Premier League was currently on and questioned ‘how long can we stay on it for’.
Speaking to Sky Sports about his concerns, Potter said: “We all want football to continue, want life to continue as best as we can but clearly health is the most important thing.
“We’ve got some issues ourselves and this week has been a little bit disturbing in terms of how quickly we’ve been affected. If that carries on then we’ll have to have some serious thought (about action being suspended).”
Brentford boss Thomas Frank wants this weekend’s full round of Premier League fixtures postponed to “break the chain” on the current Covid crisis.
Where are Manchester United at with their Covid-19 issues?
The Daily Telegraph reported last night that the outbreak among Manchester United’s players and staff is up to 19 cases.
The Manchester Evening News counted 18 first-team players arriving at Carrington on Wednesday, following a 24-hour shutdown at Carrington.
It remains unclear whether Manchester United’s scheduled 12.30pm clash against Brighton on Saturday will go ahead.
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