Aston Villa's home Premier League game against Burnley was postponed on Saturday due to rising cases at the club; Steven Gerrard is confident Boxing Day fixture can go ahead, but is struggling to work effectively in the current conditions
Wednesday 22 December 2021 18:26, UK
Steven Gerrard says it is hard to cope with the daily changes to the Covid-19 situation at Aston Villa which are "very unpredictable".
Villa's home Premier League game against Burnley was postponed on Saturday, but Gerrard is hopeful the Boxing Day fixture against Chelsea will go ahead.
When asked about the Covid situation at Villa Park, Gerrard said: "I don't really know because it's changing every hour, changing on a daily basis. As you know, it's very unpredictable.
"We're testing every day, lateral flow and PCR. It's changed in the last hour. I don't really know what position we're going to be in come the game.
"At the moment we've got enough to play and I expect the game to go ahead. I hope it goes ahead. It's a game we're very much looking forward to. But in terms of the Covid picture and the situation here at Villa, it's changing on a daily basis, so it's very unpredictable and hard to cope."
The Premier League announced its intention to continue with the scheduled matches over the Christmas period, even though there were 90 confirmed coronavirus cases among players and staff recorded last week - a record since the pandemic began.
Villa's game against Burnley was postponed because Villa had fewer than the minimum 14 players available and Gerrard described the situation as a "nightmare".
He said he hoped to get "a couple" of players back in time to face Chelsea, adding: "Hopefully we won't be in that situation, but we're going to need a bit of luck, we're going to need some testing results to go our way.
"Hopefully we won't be in that situation, but if you are, that is a nightmare, simple as that.
"We had a situation at the weekend where one of the players was reluctant to get out of his car because he had some symptoms and he's got a young family and you can totally understand his view in his situation.
"Thankfully he was tested after and he didn't have a situation but that player would not have been available for me on the day and these are the little situations that people don't see."
PFA chief executive Maheta Molango has supported Jordan Henderson's concerns over player welfare and stressed players must be part of the conversation going forward.
Molango told Sky Sports News: "I think the point Jordan was trying to make, which I coincide with, is the fact that the players need to be part of the conversation. Not one more stakeholder, but the stakeholder when it comes to deciding things which have an impact on their present and future.
"That was the point Jordan was making, which I agree with. That's something we've been discussing over the last few weeks.
"Our feeling is the governance of football needs to be rethought. The players have proven over the past 18 months how much they care, how much they are committed."
