Aston Villa ask for Sunday's Premier League clash with Everton to be postponed

Aston Villa have requested the postponement of their second Premier League game in a row as the club continues to feel the effects of a substantial coronavirus outbreak among the first-team squad.

The Villans have asked the league to postpone Sunday's lunchtime kick off against Everton, with a decision expected in the next 24 hours.

Nine Villa players and five members of staff tested positive for COVID-19 last week, and according to The Telegraph there are fears they will not be allowed back into their Bodymoor Heath training complex until Saturday, leaving just 24 hours to prepare for the Toffees' visit.

The news follows the postponement of Villa's midweek home fixture against Tottenham on Wednesday - which was called off at their request - with Fulham travelling to face Spurs in a rearranged encounter instead.

Villa were forced to field a side made up of academy players in the FA Cup third round against Liverpool on Friday evening following the outbreak, with rules differing in that competition.

The Premier League are due to meet to discuss the request on Wednesday as they continue to assess potential postponements on a case by case basis.

Although the club was successful in its plea to have the Tottenham game rearranged, it may be that the league decide the game must go ahead amid the plethora of cancelled games up and down the country.

However, The Telegraph's report adds that the club's hierarchy believes their circumstances are 'extraordinary', with Dean Smith and his players self-isolating and unable to train since the outbreak, and that it would be unfair to face Carlo Ancelotti's side with so little time to prepare.

Egyptian winger Trezeguet revealed on Twitter that he is one of the Villa players who tested positive, contracting the virus as he worked his way back from injury.

"After being hit in the head with 6 stitches, after some missed for a month, then after rehabilitation and the beginning of the return to group training, I was infected with the Coronavirus," he wrote.