Kevin Phillips doesn’t want West Brom matches called off before COVID cases increase
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips is happy West Brom played against Reading last week despite a COVID outbreak at the Black Country club.
According to The Athletic, four Albion players missed the 1-0 win at The Hawthorns after testing positive for COVID while two staff members have also been “laid low with the virus”.
Valerien Ismael confirmed that the Baggies wanted to postpone the match but said the EFL “forced” them to play.
Despite a spate of Premier League matches being called off within the last week, Phillips feels as though it was the right call for the Albion to play on, comparing a COVID outbreak to an injury crisis.
Speaking to West Brom News, Phillips said: “For me, it’s the right thing to do to play the game unless there’s a rule that comes in that says if you have got five, six or seven players out with COVID then that’s different.
“But for three or four players, you get three or four injuries but you don’t try to call the game off so I think it’s right to play.
“No one could foresee COVID coming and this new variant but that’s why you have big squads to compensate for injuries around this time of the year.
“They didn’t do too badly without the lads who were missing [against Reading]. It wasn’t a classic game but they got the result.
“I think it was the right thing to do but, of course, if there are more cases within the squad then a decision has to be made to call the game off, without a shadow of a doubt.”
The Athletic reports that West Brom wanted to close their training ground last week and postpone the Reading match but “the EFL’s approach to COVID-19 outbreaks left them unable to follow that course”.
Essentially, the lack of clarity and the failure to have a black and white rule within the EFL left the Baggies worried they would be punished if the organistion found that they didn’t have sufficient grounds for a postponement.
In other West Brom news, Phillips wants Albion to sign this available Arsenal player in January.
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