Newcastle United's match at Aston Villa on Friday has been postponed due to a number of Newcastle players and staff testing positive for Covid-19. Newcastle lodged a request with the Premier League to postpone the fixture at Villa Park, which has been approved. "The Premier League Board agreed, as a consequence, that the club are unable to train and adequately and safely prepare for their match on Friday," the league said. Aston Villa said it "fully supports" the Premier League's decision to postpone the match. "Everybody at Aston Villa wishes a speedy recovery to all those affected by the virus," added the club. The Magpies closed their training ground on Monday and Tuesday and had already cancelled training on Sunday after four players and a member of the backroom staff tested positive for the virus last week. A new date and time for the game will be confirmed in the future. Bruce was already without five first team players for last Friday's 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. Another round of testing is due to take place on Wednesday. Newcastle players such as Allan Saint-Maximin, Andy Carroll, Jamaal Lascelles, Ryan Fraser and Isaac Hayden did not play at Palace but the club has not confirmed if they were injured or self-isolating after testing positive. In a statement, Newcastle said: "Several Newcastle United players and staff members are now self-isolating at home after returning positive test results in recent days and the club's training centre site has been temporarily closed in order to contain the spread of the virus." No Premier League match had previously been called off since football resumed after a three-month stoppage between March and June. Neither side are involved in European football, meaning there is plenty of space in the calendar for the match to be rescheduled despite a shortened season. The city of Newcastle will enter the most severe tier-three restriction band when the latest national lockdown in England ends on Wednesday. <strong>_______________________________</strong>
