Aston Villa's Premier League game against Everton called off due to coronavirus

Aston Villa had to field youth team players in the FA Cup defeat to Liverpool last weekend due to the Covid-19 outbreak. PA

Aston Villa's home match against Everton on Sunday has been postponed because of a Covid-19 outbreak at the Midlands club.

Villa's entire first-team squad and support staff have been in isolation since last week after 14 positive cases of coronavirus were reported at the club.

Dean Smith's side were scheduled to face Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday but the fixture was pushed back until later in the season, with Fulham stepping in to fill the gap in the fixture list.

Villa had to field youth team players in the FA Cup defeat to Liverpool last weekend and despite initially moving the Everton match back 24 hours to give it every chance of taking place, it has not been possible.

"Following the rescheduling of Villa's fixture against Tottenham Hotspur, which was due to be played last night, a significant number of players and staff remain in isolation," the Premier League said in a statement.

"As a result, the Premier League Board has agreed to Aston Villa's request to postpone their match on Sunday."

Villa said that members of the first-team squad and staff who are healthy were expected to resume training on Sunday when they finish their period of isolation.

Following the latest midweek round of fixtures Villa are already two matches behind the majority of their rivals and that will rise to three at the weekend.

One of the matches they have in hand – the game at home to Newcastle which was postponed from December 4 after the north east club's own coronavirus outbreak – has been rescheduled for Saturday, January 23.

"The club would like to express its immense gratitude to the medical experts who have helped us to get a significant Covid-19 outbreak under control, as well as the Premier League board and our fellow clubs for their understanding during this period," read a Villa statement.

"We expect that members of the first-team squad and staff who are healthy and safe to return to training will do so on Sunday when the isolation protocols will have been observed.

"The club continues to wish all those affected by the virus a speedy recovery."