Crystal Palace have no positive Covid-19 cases – but boss Patrick Vieira urges extra vigilance

Crystal Palace have no positive Covid-19 cases ahead of tomorrow night’s home game against Southampton – but manager Patrick Vieira reckons the rise nationally underlines the importance of following guidelines.

The Premier League revealed earlier this week that 42 Premier League players and staff had tested positive in the past week. It is the highest number since January (40).

“We did a test this morning and we are all fine,” said Vieira, who conducted his pre-match press conference on Zoom and entered the room wearing a face covering.

“We know that the cases are rising and with the doctor at the football club we talk about how important it is to follow the protocols. We’re trying to make everyone aware of the cases and we’re communicating that. The job that has been done in the football club by the doc and his team has been good so far.

“We know cases are rising and we have to be more focused and vigilant than we were before.”

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard claimed that a player’s vaccination status will play a part when they draw up their list of January transfer targets.

“We will have to find solutions and I don’t think that will be a massive thing in recruiting players or not,” said Vieira. “Knowing that if you’re signing a player that it will take 10 days off his isolation before he starts training with the team, it is something we will take into consideration. But I don’t think that will be the final call on whether we sign a player or not.”

Only James McArthur is missing for the visit of the Saints with centre-back Joachim Andersen and Luka Milivojevic back available