Manchester United coaching staff members to miss Newcastle game in Covid self-isolation

No United players affected and Sunday’s Premier League match goes ahead as planned

Mark Critchley
Northern Football Correspondent
Sunday 21 February 2021 16:12 GMT
Comments
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United via Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Manchester United’s Premier League meeting with Newcastle will go ahead on Sunday despite a Covid-19 outbreak forcing members of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s coaching staff to self-isolate.

A club statement released on Sunday morning confirmed that the match would go ahead at the scheduled kick-off time of 7.00pm, with academy coaches Nicky Butt and Mark Dempsey joining Solskjaer on the first team bench.

United have not named the individuals concerned on medical privacy grounds but it is understood that no players have been affected.

Read more: The first 12 minutes of Amad’s Manchester United career, under the microscope

The club statement read: “Nicky Butt and Mark Dempsey will join Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the bench this evening due to some of the coaching staff having to self isolate.

“The home Premier League game against Newcastle United at Old Trafford will kick off at 19:00 GMT.”

United welcome Newcastle to Old Trafford after a 4-0 Europa League win over Real Sociedad which was played at a neutral venue in Turin due to the Spanish government’s coronavirus travel restrictions.

Solskjaer’s side have won just one of their last five Premier League matches having fallen away from leaders Manchester City, who visit Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in