The Blues’ game at Fleetwood Town now looks certain to go ahead in the next few days, however, the decision on whether it will be staged on Saturday, as initially scheduled, or next Tuesday will be made on Thursday.

As reported yesterday, five of the Blues’ players who previously tested positive for Covid-19 returned to training this morning following their 10-day periods of self-isolation and a decision on when the game will be played will be made on Thursday based on how they have recovered from their first day back at Playford Road.

If the quintet aren’t considered ready for a game on Saturday, Town could potentially have up to 13 players unavailable due to injury and Covid - one injured player has also tested positive - hence Tuesday being looked at as an alternative to allow them more time to get up to speed.

On the other hand, moving the match to Tuesday would mean the squad arriving back in Suffolk in the early hours of Wednesday and having less time to recover for the Saturday 9th January match at home to Swindon and it may be decided it would be better to make the trip to Fleetwood as planned on Saturday despite what may be a very depleted squad.

It had initially been expected that the game would be put back to later in the season but the EFL is keen to get matches played and there are concerns that action such as fines or even points deductions could be handed out retrospectively if games are postponed and it’s later deemed that they could have been played.

Town’s previous two games - the Boxing Day fixture at home to Northampton and yesterday’s planned away trip to AFC Wimbledon - were postponed after 11 players and staff - including manager Paul Lambert and general manager of football operations Lee O’Neill - tested positive for Covid-19. Prior to that, the Blues’ match at Peterborough had been called off after a positive test in the Posh squad.

The Peterborough United-Doncaster Rovers and Rochdale-MK Dons League One fixtures scheduled for Saturday have already been postponed, while speculation regarding a circuit breaker hiatus continues in the media but with the EFL currently ruling out such a move.

The Town squad will next be tested for Covid-19 on Monday as part of widespread testing across the 72 EFL clubs.

Photo: Matchday Images

martin587 added 17:18 - Dec 30 RIDICULOUS! 🤦‍♂️
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Kingfisher49 added 17:56 - Dec 30 Martin your exactly right. If they play on Saturday some of those ITFC players might then test positive after the testing on Monday which could also have infected those at Fleetwood and our group travelling whilst up North. Or play on Tuesday the day test results should come back. So how can you plan properly not knowing which players should travel and it is not fair on our players and staff and also everyone at Fleetwood to be put in this situation. The rate of confirmed cases is out of control in this country and Suffolk is rife with cases and lets not forget this is a killer disease and I am very surprised the EFL has made this game happen. To be honest it is very irresponsible and I sincerely hope everyone comes out unscathed.

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Monkey_Blue added 18:30 - Dec 30 Tuesday makes far more sense for all concerned. Also the Swindon game is at home, so I don't see the issue with recovery as Wednesday off for all involved at Fleetwood and no long journey to the game on Saturday.
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Monkey_Blue added 18:32 - Dec 30 Anyone upset it's not on Saturday is just ignoring the health of players and staff from both clubs.
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alfromcol added 18:39 - Dec 30 It's a mad, mad world in the EFL!
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Bert added 18:59 - Dec 30 What a ludicrous decision. Testing is not 100%, the virus is being transmitted in the community, almost the entire country is in tier 4 and we are told to stay at home unless it's essential. A coach trip to Fleetwood in recirculated air, a strain on bodies not functioning 100% , a risk to Fleetwood players and staff .... and the the suits at EFL say go ahead. No wonder we are one of the most infectious countries in the world.

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Tractorboy58 added 19:14 - Dec 30 shut down for a month
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Saxonblue74 added 19:25 - Dec 30 I think I would have to applaud our club if they took a stand against this utter madness, even if it meant a points deduction. The way the EFL are handling this is farcical.
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stiff_talking added 02:35 - Dec 31 We usually perform well after a rest ! Are we on TV ? If so we can write this one off
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