Western United coach John Aloisi expects COVID-19 cases at clubs to continue to cause havoc throughout the A-League Men season.
United have confirmed that two additional players had tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and Friday respectively, after a previous mid-week positive case.
All other club football staff and the playing group had a second round of PCR testing on Thursday and received negative results, ahead of beating Adelaide 1-0 on Friday night.
“It’s probably going to happen all season. We just have to be ready for it and make sure we adapt well and the group did tonight,” Aloisi said.
“We’re hoping that we aren’t going to pick up even more cases in the next couple of weeks but we just have to make sure we’re still following the right procedures, in terms of training, of being around the group, where we have our meetings and all that.
“We also have to be prepared that this can happen even with travel. We don’t know what’s around the corner.
“It’s a bit of a lottery at the moment in terms of that and we have to be adaptable.”
Aloisi said the three players, who he wouldn’t name, were all doing well at home.
On Thursday, the league postponed Perth’s remaining 2021 fixtures against Brisbane and Adelaide after Glory’s entire squad were deemed close contacts of a player who tested positive.
Unless they can strike a deal with the Queensland and WA Governments, Glory will have to spend two weeks under hotel quarantine.
“One of my team mates caught COVID so unfortunately the whole squad has to hotel quarantine in Brisbane for 14 days and potentially spend Christmas alone in a hotel room,” Perth star signing Daniel Sturridge said on Twitter.
“Hopefully, we find a solution and can move forward with the beautiful game.”
The Glory found a sympathetic ear in Adelaide coach Carl Veart.
“We follow all these mandates and then we still get punished,” Veart said.
“I just don’t understand what the point is of mandating vaccines if we’re still going to live the way we did before. I just don’t understand that.
“I feel sorry for the Perth players and I think the league has to do its best to make it so they don’t have to do the 14-days quarantine.”
Earlier this week, Newcastle had two men’s players test positive, while Macarthur confirmed a positive case on Friday.
Sydney FC’s Rhyan Grant tested positive last week but was released from home isolation on Thursday and could return against Wellington on Sunday.
