Image Credit- Daily Mail
Leeds United have introduced new training ground measures at Thorp Arch in a bid to prevent Marcelo Bielsa’s promotion chasing squad from catching the virus.
The Whites are in poll position after beating fellow Yorkshire team Huddersfield Town 2-0 at home on Saturday, whilst promotion rivals West Bromwich Albion were held to a 0-0 draw at Swansea City.
A superb volley by Luke Ayling in the first few minutes of the game placed pressure on relegation strugglers Huddersfield, before Bamford secured his 13th goal of the season six minutes after the restart.
This means Leeds United have maintained 5 clean sheets the last 5 games and the club have introduced preventative measures to ensure the COVID-19 virus will not affect their promotion ideals.
It has been announced that the women’s and academy teams will train away from Bielsa’s first team at Thorp Arch until further notice. A spokesperson for the club told the media ‘we believe the fact that the facility is shared with our first team leaves us little choice, although rest assured we will be working with the authorities to speed up the process whilst maintaining everyone’s safety.’
This policy follows the EFL’s no handshake policy, meaning teams across the footballing league cannot conduct their pre-match handshake before the game kicks off.
Although, Andy Wood, the head of the Leeds United foundation for ages 9-12 exclusively told us ‘we as a club have always been following safety procedures, such as washing our hands etc, as we cannot risk even a cold being passed onto the players.’
However, teams outside the Yorkshire region are too implementing additional safety measures, with Premier League leaders Liverpool announcing they will not be having mascots at Anfield and Southampton banning the players from signing any autographs or taking selfies with the supporters.
With twelve cases of the Virus being confirmed in the Yorkshire region, with two being confirmed this morning, Leeds United have too joined the battle against the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus.