Norwich player to miss EPL restart

LONDON • Norwich confirmed one of their players was infected with the coronavirus, one of two positive results in the latest round of testing ahead of the Premier League's restart on Wednesday.

The English top flight said on Saturday that two players from different clubs had come down with the Covid-19 disease out of a sample of 1,200 individuals.

The Canaries said the player would self-isolate for seven days before being tested again, meaning he will not be available for the club's first game following a three-month coronavirus-enforced break. The bottom side host Southampton on Friday.

"The club will not name the player in question and asks that his request for privacy and confidentiality are respected at this time," Norwich added.

The results continue a trend of low positive cases since the resumption of training last month. In eight rounds of testing, only 16 players and staff have been picked up for the virus.

The league resumes with Manchester City taking on Arsenal and Aston Villa facing Sheffield United - all four clubs are playing their game in hand - before a full round of fixtures, the first of nine left, over the weekend.

All remaining games are to be played behind closed doors owing to the pandemic, but Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster feels the absence of fans could help players struggling for confidence.

"You're going to get players coming into form that haven't been in form all season... and then suddenly thriving," he told The Guardian. "I know for a fact there are players that do feel massive pressure when they know they have 30-, 40-, 50,000 people watching them... Not having the crowd there will, without doubt, benefit some people."

But he is not a fan of the piped-in artificial crowd noise, which Sky Sports has planned for its broadcasts.

After experiencing that during a friendly, he called it "really annoying".

REUTERS