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Navy manager Neil Young abandoned his plan to see FA Cup third round opponents Spurs play Leeds on Saturday as a Covid precautionary measure.
Non-league players will be tested twice before the biggest game in their history next Sunday, and the risk of Young making a 445-mile round trip outweighed the benefits of being able to study the team live José Mourinho’s Premier League.
“It was decided due to current Covid circumstances that he would not travel to London for the Spurs game,” Young confirmed. ‘Gutted, but we have to be careful.’
Some Navy players have jobs that involve helping control the pandemic. Advocate Danny Shaw is an NHS physio who has worked in a Covid ward, while Josh Solomon-Davies is involved in the national track and trace service.
Marine has played only four times since his 1-0 second round win over Havant on November 29, due to the closure of the Northern Premier League due to Covid. Their players had a first Covid test on Friday at their Rossett Park field. They will take a second test, like all 64 clubs in the third round, later this week.
Merseyside was moved to Level Three last Wednesday, which means Marine will not be able to have any fans present for the Spurs tie.
Young said: ‘Of course we are devastated that we have no fans. It was always about playing on our field so the fans could see.
But we are looking forward to it. We won’t have played for a while because our league is closed until mid-January at least.
“There is nothing better than competitive football, but it gives us a fair recovery time. You could say we were fresh in the second round against Havant. [after 22-day break] because we won the game. ‘
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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