Cobblers 'following EFL advice' amid growing coronavirus concerns

Cobblers chief executive James Whiting says the club will continue to 'take guidance from the EFL' amid growing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus.

The UK had reported 373 coronavirus cases and six deaths linked to the virus as of Tuesday afternoon and its continued spread across Europe has led to widespread disruption.

Football is being heavily affected and several matches have already gone behind closed doors, including this week's Champions League ties between PSG and Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona and Napoli.

A Cobra meeting was chaired this week as UK Government officials discussed the next stage of their coronavirus strategy with sporting authorities present.

The option of staging sporting events behind closed doors was on the agenda but it has been confirmed that such a plan will not be taken imminently.

The UK remains in the 'contain' phase and so far the only action taken by the EFL has been to put a temporary stop to the pre-match handshakes between players and officials.

"As a club, like all other EFL clubs, we are following the advice of the EFL, Football Association, UK Government and Public Health England," said Whiting.

"The EFL have decided to recommend against the pre-match handshakes for the players until further notice and that is a directive our players are following.

"We have installed some hand sanitising units around the stadium for supporters to use and they were available for the Mansfield Town game last Saturday.

"Throughout the EFL and the Premier League there is currently no change to football fixtures taking place and the club will continue to take guidance from the EFL, Football Association, UK Government and Public Health England.

"This is a moving situation of course and we will continue to monitor events, and follow the advice given."

In an interview with the BBC on Monday, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden, dismissed suggestions that sporting events were to be put behind closed doors.

"At this stage we're not in the territory of cancelling or postponing events," Dowden told BBC Radio 5 Live

"I was at Twickenham for England against Wales with the Prime Minister and there was a huge crowd of people there.

"There is no reason why people should not be going to those events. It is very premature to be talking about things like that."

It was revealed on Tuesday that Nottingham Forest and Olympiakos owner Evangelos Marinakis has coronavirus, which seems certain to impact Wolves' Europa League tie against the Greek club on Thursday.

There is also a financial concerns among EFL clubs should games be played behind closed doors, however that is not currently on the agenda.