Liam Buckley has confirmed that two of his Sligo Rovers players will miss the first leg of their Europa Conference League first qualifying round tie on Thursday because of separate Covid-19 cases.
The Bit O’Red leave for Iceland tomorrow to face FH Hafnarfjarðar and will be without centre back John Mahon, who was deemed a close contact of a positive test and must now self-isolate, while another unnamed squad member has tested positive for the virus.
Buckley revealed after his side’s 1-0 win away to Longford Town at the weekend that Mahon was a doubt because of a positive test in his family, and his preparations have been further hampered by a different incident.
“Yeah, we were all tested again this morning and we’ll get the results back and we’ll presume it’s just those two,” he said.
“These things happen. It’s our first case here since Covid started, which is disappointing bearing in mind it’s European week but look it, it is what it is, so we’ll push on.
“There was a close contact of a confirmed case which was a family member. Then, one other player would have picked it up elsewhere, away from the training ground and club.
“We were all tested last Sunday, again this morning, we’ll get those results back today which I’m presuming will all be OK.”
Sligo have also announced that 400 supporters will be permitted to attend the second leg at home to FH next week as the fixture has been selected as a test event for the return of spectators.
