Wigan Athletic P-P Oxford United: Match off because of U's Covid cases



Wigan and Oxford United are both in League One.

Oxford United's game against Wigan in League One has been postponed after seven of their players tested positive for Covid.

The players received positive tests on Saturday morning after they felt unwell overnight.

The game was called off after a discussion between the two clubs.

The players involved will return to Oxford, away from the main group of players.

Oxford lost 4-3 away to Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup replays on Tuesday, while Wigan won 2-1 at Solihull Moors.

The League will review the circumstances surrounding the postponement with a rearranged date for the fixture to be confirmed in due course following consultation between all parties.

On Tuesday, Oxford will host Fleetwood Town.

Karl Robinson said it was too early to say what would happen with the match and the home game next Saturday against Rotherham United, with up to 10 players potentially unavailable.

Robinson said one player was ruled out of the Wigan match after a positive test on Wednesday, and that a full set of negative results came back on Thursday and Friday.

He told the club website that they tested again when they got to Wigan.

"Then one or two players started feeling unwell overnight and so we tested again when they came down."

Simon Eastwood, our one available goalkeeper, tested positive.

If we were given permission to try and sign a goalkeeper on emergency loan, we would have been happy to play the game.

We had two more positive tests by 11:00pm, so we had no choice but to call the game off, as we couldn't get a goalkeeper in time.

We were in contact with Wigan. We got the news out as quickly as we could, because I was in touch with their manager all the time.

We feel bad for fans of both clubs who were looking forward to the game.

Oxford will be looking into the possibility of an emergency loan deal for a goalkeeper if required, as they plan more tests from Monday.

Robinson said that their priority is to make sure everyone is safe.

In September, a League Two game at Colchester was called off because of Covid cases within the squad.