Brentford's next two Championship games postponed over COVID-19 cases

(Reuters) - Brentford's next two second-tier Championship games have been postponed due to COVID-19 cases in their camp, the English Football League (EFL) said on Tuesday.

Brentford said in a statement https://www.brentfordfc.com/news/2021/january/brentford-fc-statement--next-two-fixtures-suspended they returned positive results on Monday and were advised by the league's medical team to close their training ground to carry further rounds of testing.

Brentford's postponed games include Wednesday's home tie against Bristol City and a trip to Reading on Saturday.

"The club (Brentford) informed the EFL that they would be unable to fulfil the fixtures following recent positive COVID-19 tests and the requirement for players and staff to self-isolate as per EFL and government guidance in order to mitigate against the risk of further infection," the EFL said in a statement https://twitter.com/EFL_Comms/status/1348955384032108550.

The dates for the rearranged fixtures will be confirmed later, the EFL said.

Brentford, who are fourth in the league standings with 41 points after 22 games, last week said their manager Thomas Frank had tested positive for the virus, two days after their 2-0 League Cup semi-final loss at Tottenham Hotspur.

COVID-19 outbreaks have led to five Premier League matches being postponed and more than 50 games in the lower divisions of the EFL being called off this season.

The United Kingdom has recorded more than 3.1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 81,000 deaths, as per a Reuters tally.

(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)