Portsmouth favourite Gareth Evans: My coronavirus fear after shaking hands with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta

Arsenal’s manager tested positive for the pandemic in March – 10 days after his team had faced Pompey in the FA Cup fifth round.

The Spaniard’s diagnosis represented a watershed moment in football, prompting the suspension of the Premier League and Football League programmes.

Evans was Pompey skipper for that 2-0 defeat at Fratton Park, although didn’t shake hands with Arteta until after the final whistle, with the Gunners having turned up late to the fixture.

Subsequently, five Blues players were later that month found to have coronavirus.

Yet it was a nervous wait for Evans to be cleared, especially with wife Hazel due to give birth.

He said: ‘When it came out that Arteta had a positive test, I said in our player group chat “I shook his hand”.

‘Then five or six other lads piped up and said the same thing, but they weren’t the ones which tested posted.

‘I didn’t think anything of shaking his hand – then the next thing you see is Sky Sports talking about how Arteta had coronavirus.

‘It’s impossible to say where our lads got it from, but at the time I was obviously worried and keen to take the test.

‘It was a concerning time for me because Hazel was due to give birth any day at that point. The last thing I wanted was to contract the virus and then need to self isolate for 14 days, potentially missing my son’s birth.

‘Luckily, my test came back and I didn’t have it – but even then I had to wait four days. It was a long wait.’

Subsequently, three Blues players which featured against Arsenal – James Bolton, Ross McCrorie and Andy Cannon – tested positive for coronavirus.

In addition, Sean Raggett was an unused substitute, while second-year scholar Haji Mnoga did not feature in the match-day squad.

As for Evans, he had surprisingly been recalled to Pompey’s side and handed the captaincy for the FA Cup clash.

He added: ‘As captain, before the match you meet the opposing skipper and manager or assistant manager in the ref’s room to hand over team sheets.

‘Arsenal had turned up late for the game, though. It was too late for Arteta to be there.

‘I was expecting to see him and their captain, David Luiz, there. Instead it was just some random bloke in an Arsenal tracksuit stood there.

‘At the time I was disappointed because I wanted to shake Mikel Arteta’s hand and shake David Luiz’s hand.

‘That’s part of the enjoyment of being captain – but I wasn’t able to do either!’

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