Tottenham Hotspur's Carabao Cup third-round tie with Leyton Orient on Tuesday is in jeopardy after the a a number of players from the League Two side tested positive for COVID-19.
Orient managed a 2-2 draw with Mansfield Town on Saturday, after which the squad were subject to routine COVID-19 checks.
Club statement: Covid-19
— Leyton Orient (@leytonorientfc) September 21, 2020
We have received formal confirmation that a number of our first-team squad have tested positive for COVID-19.
Read more: https://t.co/3lhR7C8vRU
The club took to their official website to note that a number of those tests had come back negative, with all the relevant members of the squad now entering a period of self-isolation. It is unclear how many players have been affected.
Orient have closed both their stadium and the training ground as a result of the virus outbreak, and they have also reached out to both Spurs and the Football League to discuss the fate of Tuesday's game, which is scheduled to take place at Orient's Breyer Group Stadium.
They have also contacted their three previous opponents - Mansfield, Plymouth Argyle and Oldham Athletic.
Dan Kilpatrick adds that the EFL have scheduled a meeting with Public Health England to discuss the appropriate next step, but it is unclear as to what that will be. At the very least, a new stadium would have to be found at short notice, but they could decide to postpone the fixture or even force Orient to withdraw from the competition.
It would be a real shame to see the tie called off as Spurs had already pledged to auction off their shirts from during the match in support of the JE3 Foundation, which was set up in memory of former defender Justin Edinburgh.
Edinburgh was manager at Orient at the time of his death from cardiac arrest in June 2019. He was just 49 years old.
"This is another first-class touch from a wonderful football club," Charlie Edinburgh said, via BBC Sport.
"The support we have received and continue to receive from Tottenham fills us with pride as a family at just how much dad meant to the club and its supporters".
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Source: 90min
