More Watford players have joined captain Troy Deeney in refusing to return to training after the club reported three positive Covid-19 tests.Watford were the Premier League's worst-hit club after results were revealed on Tuesday, with one player and two members of staff testing positive for coronavirus. The three people will self-isolate for seven days but The Athletic's David Ornstein reports that more players will not train on Wednesday.It comes after there were six positive tests during the 748 tests carried out on Premier League players and staff at training grounds.Among those to test positive were Burnley's assistant manager Ian Woan.It's reported that the three people at Watford to test positive are doing well and are now following government guidelines.
The Hornets' captain, Deeney, admitted on Monday that he didn't feel comfortable returning to training due to the increased risk to BAME males and his young son having breathing difficulties.Speaking to Eddie Hearn and Tony Bellew on the Talk the Talk YouTube show, Deeney revealed he had informed Watford that he wouldn't be training.
“We’re due back in this week, I’ve said I’m not going in,” he said.
“It only takes one person to get infected within the group and I don’t want to be bringing that home.
“My son is only five months old, he had breathing difficulties, so I don’t want to come home to put him in more danger.”
He added: “For black, Asian and mixed ethnicities, they’re four times more likely to get the illness, they’re twice as likely to have long-lasting illnesses — is there anything extra, additional screening, heart stuff to see if people have got problems with that? No. OK, well I feel that should be addressed.
“I can’t get a haircut until mid-July but I can go and get in a box with 19 people and go and jump for a header and nobody could answer the questions, not because they didn’t want to, just because they don’t know the information.
“So I said, if you don’t know the information, why would I put myself at risk?”