What Portsmouth's League One rivals having been saying about suspending games amid coronavirus outbreak

Yet, speaking to The News, he admitted the likelihood of that happening will be quickly reducing if fixtures don’t continue after the current suspension period.

His comments came following an unprecedented day of drama for English football on Friday, with measures announced to halt Premier League and EFL programmes for three weeks amid the battle against Covid-19.

The Blues were at the heart of the developments, with Mikel Arteta testing positive for coronavirus after the Arsenal manager’s team faced Kenny Jackett’s men in the FA Cup on March 2.

But with all games at elite level in England suspended until April 3 at the earliest, the pandemic is having an impact on all clubs one way or another.

Peterborough have two players in self-isolation waiting to be tested for the virus, while Pompey’s players were sent home on Friday as a precautionary measure before they hope to have tests taken next week.

At the other end of the perspective, some clubs have been thinking about the financial consequences the suspension could have.

Here, we look at what some of the Blues’ League One rivals have been saying about the coronavirus situation….

Brian Caldwell, Shrewbury Town chief executive – via shropshirestar.com

‘Financially, it will be a hit for us, we did have two home games in the next two weeks and that is a concern.

‘The one benefit we do have as a football club is that we do have a healthy bank balance and we can sustain the loss of income, but I do worry about other clubs and the state they will be in.

‘If there’s any help coming from the EFL, financially, we’ll have to wait and see.

‘We are also seeing a hit on our conferencing and events side of things.

‘Things are being cancelled by participants because of the coronavirus – we are taking a hit on both sides.

‘When you take everything into account, we’re probably talking around £40,000 to £50,000 a game, which is not a small amount of money.

‘Hopefully we will get the games played. Whether they’re played on a Tuesday night, which does have an impact on crowds as well, we’ll have to wait and see.

‘At the moment we don’t know what we’ll do but when you look at potentially losing a total of £200,000 or £250,000 in cash flow, that’s quite scary.’

Burton Albion manager Nigel Clough – via derbytelegraph.co.uk

‘I am glad we are not playing behind closed doors.

‘Delaying games is better. I understand the idea of playing behind closed doors but football is a spectator sport.

‘If someone said you have to play your next eight or nine games behind closed doors then I certainly don’t think it helps anybody in terms of the football.

‘(Financially) It’s an absolutely huge concern for every club who don’t have big owners to bankroll them.

‘I think someone has to find a fund or compensation somewhere to keep clubs going over this period.

‘It affects an awful lot of businesses as well and football clubs are just one of them.

‘Already a lot of clubs are under strain and I hope this doesn’t tip anyone over the edge.

‘This is a once in a generation thing across the world, they are saying, and football is such a small part of that, but it’s the business we’re involved in and we take on board what’s applicable to us. It’s a pretty scary thing.’

Peterborough United owner Darragh MacAnthony

‘All this talk of cancelling the leagues has to stop. People need to calm down.

‘There will be plenty of time to complete the leagues when this all dies down.

‘If the leagues are cancelled there will be a multitude of lawsuits.

‘In the meantime, the UK Government need to pull their fingers out re testing.

‘They need to follow the lead of the USA who are having drive-through testing clinics where you can take the test sitting in your car and the results are known within 24 hours.’

Rhys Ellingham, head of commercial at Southend United – via echo-news.co.uk.

‘If the remaining games are going to take place behind closed doors it would be a significant amount of money lost.

‘After looking at figures, the number is just shy of £700,000.

‘Obviously, the public’s health comes first but we would be more favourable towards games being postponed for a period of time rather than played behind closed doors.

‘The fans have a huge part to play in football and it wouldn’t be natural to play without them supporting the club like they have done all season.’