George Baker
Manchester United cancel Preston friendly after COVID cases
According to ESPN, Manchester United have cancelled their friendly against Preston North End after a small group tested positive for COVID. The friendly was supposed to be United’s fourth game of the pre-season but it had to be cancelled.
Manchester United’s pre-season is in full swing as the club prepare to take on Leeds United in their season opener. Five friendlies were scheduled as a part of those games, with three already being played. United won against Derby, lost against QPR and drew the most recent one against Brentford.
However, their game against Preston North End at the weekend had to be cancelled over positive COVID tests. These routine COVID tests were carried out on Thursday and it is understood that it was on a small group, consisting of players and staff.
The Preston friendly has been cancelled
The group will now go through PCR tests to confirm the positive cases. United also sent out a statement over the same.
“Maintaining Covid security is a priority for us. Following routine testing of the first team training group today, we have identified a small number of suspected positive cases. This has led to those people isolating, pending further tests. As a precautionary measure based on covid protocols, we have taken the difficult decision that we will not now be able to play the friendly match against Preston North End this Saturday.
“We regret the disruption to Preston and disappointment caused to fans. Any Manchester United fans who have purchased tickets for the game will be automatically refunded. At this stage, we do not expect further disruption around our forthcoming matches, but we will continue to follow Premier League protocols in this regard.”
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It could be the case that any player who tests positive will not play any part in the final game. The scrapping of this game means that United will still have one more friendly to play on August 7 against Everton. A week later, our Premier League campaign begins against Leeds United.
