Gary Neville disagrees with two-week Premier League ‘circuit-breaker’ to curb Covid cases

Former Manchester United defender believes a two-week postponement of English football would be ineffective as ‘this virus is going nowhere’

Gary Neville believes a two-week circuit break would be ineffective for football (Getty Images)

Gary Neville believes there is little point in a Premier League ‘circuit-breaker’ to regain control over the outbreak of Covid-19 among clubs because “this virus isn’t going anywhere”.

West Bromwich Albion manager Sam Allardyce called for a pause to English football amid the rapidly increasing coronavirus cases across the UK, which on Tuesday hit a record high of 53,125 new daily cases - nearly 12,000 more than were recorded on Monday.

It’s understood that Premier League clubs have privately discussed the prospect of taking a two-week ‘circuit break’ after Manchester City, Arsenal, Sheffield United and West Brom all confirmed they had recorded positive Covid tests this week, while Wednesday evening’s encounter between Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham is at risk of being postponed because of several positive cases at the Craven Cottage club.

The Premier League is not in favour of halting football at this stage, with the total number of positive cases this season (131) representing just 0.5 per cent of 26,094 overall tests. However, last week saw the top flight record 18 positive cases, the most since testing began earlier this year.

Former Manchester United and England defender Neville agrees with that view and believes that not only has football been able to operate under conditions that have enabled the sport to continue while keeping people safe, but the impact of any postponement will be minimal.

READ MORE: Sam Allardyce calls for Premier League circuit break

“Football has proven through the last six months it can operate safely,” Neville said in response to Alladyce’s suggestion.

“It was right to be cautious and concerned through the first lockdown when the virus was new and unknown. It shouldn’t stop now in my opinion. This virus isn’t going anywhere in two-four weeks!!"

Neville’s comments on Twitter came after West Brom boss Allardyce backed the postponement of games in January in the hope of bringing Covid-19 outbreaks back under control, with his expression of concern following his side’s 5-0 defeat by Leeds United on Tuesday.

"When I listen to the news the variant virus transmits quicker than the original virus, we can only do the right thing which is have a circuit break," Allardyce said.

"I am 66 years old and the last thing I want to do is catch Covid. I'm very concerned for myself and football in general. If that's what needs to be done we need to do it.

"We had one positive this week and it seems to be creeping around no matter how hard we try."

Manchester City were forced to postpone their trip to Everton on Monday night after receiving further positive Covid tests on top of the four recorded on Christmas Day, while Arsenal confirmed that defender Gabriel Magalhaes tested positive at the start of the week.

Sheffield United also announced ‘ a number of positive tests’ on Tuesday ahead of their match with Burnley, which was able to go ahead despite manager Chris Wilder confirming that a “couple” of players and “half a dozen” staff had been infected by the virus.

"It's not an ideal situation but I don't think we're a club of one," manager Chris Wilder told SUTV. "It (the virus) is picking up and it's running high at football clubs.

"We just notified the relevant authorities that we've had a situation at the football club. But I want to play football. That's how it is, we're not looking to get anything canned. We did the right thing as far as our responsibility to the Premier League and notified them regarding the players that are ill."