Dundalk suffer 'minor Covid-19 outbreak' ahead of European tie

Manager Vinny Perth confirmed a number of players will miss game v Newtown

Wed, 07 Jul, 2021 - 13:24

John Fallon

Dundalk will be missing a number of players for tomorrow’s Europa Conference League first round tie against Newtown following the results of routine Covid-19 tests.

The Welsh visitors to Oriel Park were already without four players due to the coronavirus-related issues but the hosts have suffered their own problems on the eve of the first leg, described as a “minor Covid-19 outbreak”.

Head coach Vinny Perth, who returned to the club last month 10 months after being sacked, made the revelations at today’s pre-match press conference.

Today’s training session went ahead but without several players, who were ordered to remain at home pending further direction.

The issues were discovered as part of a testing programme all clubs participating in Uefa competition must undertake.

“There's a lot going on as we have some Covid issues in our own camp which have broken in the last couple of hours,” said Perth.

“When we all arrived at Oriel Park this morning, the only players I had out were injured pair Brian Gartland and Dan Cleary but I'm waiting for an update from our doctor at the moment in terms of who's available for tomorrow.

“We had Covid tests yesterday as part of Uefa protocols and we’re starting to receive those results.

“It’s very early to give definite numbers but we will have some players missing the game tomorrow due to Covid.

“We worked yesterday in training on a lot of our team shape and phases of play but we’ve had to drastically change that today.”

Perth asserted that the virus will continue to play havoc with sport in this country despite the continued rollout of the vaccination programme.

He said: “We have to accept that this is the world we live in. I believe Covid is rampant in our community, particularly in people aged between 17 and 30.

“A lot of players fall into that category and I think this is just the beginning of it.

“If sports teams are going to be tested, you’ll find the numbers are quite high in that age-group.”

Elsewhere, Sligo Rovers travelled to Iceland yesterday for Thursday's tie against FH Hafnarfjordur without two players, one confirmed Covid-19 case and another unrelated player out as a close contact.