Aston Villa to field youth players in FA Cup against Liverpool after Covid-19 outbreak
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Updated 08/01/2021 at 13:22 GMT
Aston Villa's FA Cup third-round tie against Liverpool will go ahead with Villa playing a team made up of Under-18 and Under-23 players after 10 first-team players were among 14 to test positive at the club in a Covid outbreak. Villa's first team, players and staff will now not attend the match. Villa closed their training ground on Thursday.
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Aston Villa will field a youth team against Liverpool in the FA Cup on Friday after a Covid-19 outbreak among the senior squad.
Villa closed their training ground on Thursday after a “significant” outbreak, which was later revealed to be 14 positive tests in their first-team bubble, including 10 players.
There had been doubt whether the clash with Liverpool would go ahead, but Villa are prepared to play a team made up of Under-18 and Under-23 players.
First-team manager Dean Smith will not be at the match and assistants John Terry, Craig Shakespeare and Richard O’Kelly will also not be involved.
Under-23s coach Mark Delaney, who played for Villa between 1999 and 2007, will lead the team.
The youth players and staff, who train in a different part of the training ground to the senior squad, were tested separately.
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