Women's Super League: Arsenal players 'sorry' for taking Dubai trip

Joe Montemurro's Arsenal are currently third in the Women's Super League table but have played a game more than second-placed Chelsea and fourth-placed Manchester City

Arsenal boss Joe Montemurro says the three players who travelled to Dubai, causing their WSL match against Aston Villa to be postponed, have apologised.

Three Gunners players travelled over Christmas despite London being under tier four lockdown restrictions.

One tested positive for Covid-19 after returning, leading to others self-isolating and the game being delayed.

"From my perspective, it's about the moral compass, and the consequences of these situations," he said.

"There is obviously disappointment of the situation, the way it panned out.

"The players have apologised for their actions, we have dealt with it internally, and for me the really important thing is that it doesn't happen again, and it is all about actions now."

The postponement, which was in addition to a similar incident involving four Manchester City players testing positive for Covid-19 after a trip to the United Arab Emirates, was one of three games to be called off last weekend.

It also comes after Arsenal defender Jen Beattie was diagnosed with breast cancer in October.

When asked by BBC Sport whether the trip had put Beattie's health at risk, Montemurro said: "In the moment, in the situation, they probably didn't think of those situations, they probably didn't think of that.

"But I can guarantee you going forward from now that they have understood the effect of their actions, the repercussions of what could have happened.

"We can't change the past. Are we disappointed it happened? Absolutely. Are we going to make sure these situations are dealt with properly? Absolutely. We are going to make sure that they learn from their actions and that these actions don't happen again."