Manchester United had a friendly match against Stoke City abandoned after a Stoke City player tested positive for coronavirus on arrival at Carrington, according to The Mirror.
These mini pre-season fixtures are to help players reach greater fitness before the Premier League resumes, and United’s first game is away to Tottenham Hotspur next week, so as far as pre-match preparations go this is far from ideal.
But it can’t be helped and we wouldn’t want to see any of our players put at such risk.
Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes were all at Carrington but “unaware of the unfolding drama”, as described by Steve Bates.
The Mirror reporter was told by a United spokesperson last night that none of our players came into contact with any of the Stoke squad who were immediately forced to leave the training ground.
Michael O’Neill and his Championship players had only arrived at Carrington when news from the EFL filtered through to their medial staff. United’s medical team were told and had to make sure Solskjaer’s players were held in a safe area — kept away from their visitors.
The Premier League has done six rounds of testing for coronavirus with 13 positives from 6274 tests, as per David Ornstein of The Athletic. Games are still scheduled to go ahead this weekend.
BREAKING
0 positive from 1195 samples in R6 of PL #COVID19 testingFollows
1 positive from 1197
0 positives from 1130
4 positives (3 clubs) from 1008
2 positives (2 clubs) from 996
6 positives (3 clubs) from 748Total 13 positives from 6274 tests@TheAthleticUK #ProjectRestart
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) June 6, 2020
A source told the Mirror: “United’s players were getting ready for the game but all of a sudden there was chaos as the positive test was confirmed.
“Stoke were rushed out of the Academy very quickly indeed. United’s officials didn’t hang about — they had Stoke out of there really quickly as you’d imagine.
“Fortunately, when they first arrived, Stoke players had been taken to the ‘bio bubble’ area at the Academy building which is where testing of players is usually carried out.
“Because of that they didn’t come into contact or even see any of United’s squad.
“It could have been a scary situation but United’s protocols were absolutely spot on and prevented what could have been a major problem with the season now just days away.”
A near miss but we hope the Stoke City player in question will be alright.
READ MORE: Player Profile: Teden Mengi – newest addition to Manchester United first-team training
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