Portsmouth handed huge coronavirus boost ahead of Bristol City FA Cup showdown

The Blues did not return any positive tests after the entire first-team set-up undertook Covid-19 testing on Monday and Tuesday.

Five senior players tested positive, including defender Jack Whatmough, following an coronavirus outbreak which saw two games over the Christmas period postponed.

However, not all clubs in the league can report a Covid-free environment.

That’s after the latest round of mandatory testing in the EFL returned 112 positive Covid cases.

On Friday afternoon, the league announced the results of the testing which took place ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup third-round ties.

A total of 3507 players and 66 clubs were tested ahead of twice-weekly testing getting under way from next week.

An EFL statement read ‘This week’s testing programme incorporated all EFL Clubs who are participating in the FA Cup Round 3 fixtures, and the remaining 6 EFL Clubs who did not feature will be tested ahead of their next League fixture with results announced in due course.

‘Players or Club staff who have tested positive will self-isolate for a period of 10 days in line with Government guidance.’

The EFL’s Medical Advisors, Dr Richard Higgins and Dr.Subhashis Basu, added: ‘The results reflect the current speed at which the virus is spreading amid the emergence of a new variant of COVID-19 but the low reported numbers across the overwhelming majority of lucbs means we remain confident that our protocols continue to mitigate against the spread of infection as intended.

‘The protocols, supported by the clubs and government, are allowing us to continue playing fixtures as scheduled but we cannot be complacent, which is why recently enhanced matchday and non-matchday Covid protocols have been issued to underpin the re-introduction of a League wide testing programme which commences next week.

‘Medical advice continues to support that following these protocols is the most successful route to mitigating against the spread of infection.’

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