AFC Bournemouth went into the game against Reading without Norway international Joshua King, Denmark international Philip Billing and defender Adam Smith.
King had returned to the south coast from international duty with Norway and initially tested negative for coronavirus, however, he then tested positive 48 hours later. As a result, he then had to self-isolate for 10 days, as per government guidelines. Which ruled him out of the match against Reading and the upcoming games against Nottingham Forest and Rotherham United.
AFC Bournemouth carried out a further 59 other coronavirus tests on players and staff members on Thursday, with all returning negative.
However as both Adam Smith and Philip Billing had been close contacts of King during the period between his negative and positive test results, they were left out of the squad for the 4-2 victory over Reading at Dean Court. It’s not clear yet what the plan is for the duo and whether or not they will return to the squad ahead of the game against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.
AFC Bournemouth manager Jason Tindall told the Daily Echo…
“They (Smith and Billing) were around Josh (King) in between his negative test and his positive test so I just made the decision myself,”
“I felt it was best they stayed away for the next few days and we’ll assess them in a few days’ time to see how they are.
“It’s just a matter of monitoring them now for the next couple of weeks.
“It was only a precautionary thing, but I felt it was the best decision to not involve them (on Saturday), although I could’ve done.
“But seeing as they were around Josh in between his negative test and his positive test, I felt that was the best decision.”
Update:
🍒 #AFCB boss Jason Tindall says Adam Smith & Phil Billing likely to come back into contention v #NFFC tomorrow, after sitting out Reading win as a precaution, following Joshua King’s positive COVID test.
— Kris Temple (@kristemple) November 23, 2020
Your say…
NornIron wrote…
Get well soon Josh. It’s going to need plenty of hard work to have a worse final season than Fraser but you’re doing really well so far. – Join the conversation, click here.
