Ipswich Town's game at Fleetwood Town on Monday night is now OFF due to a Covid-19 outbreak at the Lancashire club.
The fixture was originally scheduled for this Saturday (Jan 2), then it was announced last night that the game had been pushed back to Monday night (Jan 4) in order to give Town's players extra time to recover from a Covid-19 outbreak that had seen eight players and three members of staff test positive for the virus in the days leading up to Christmas.
Fleetwood now have a Covid-19 outbreak of their own though, calling off both the Ipswich game and their scheduled trip to Sunderland next weekend.
This is the fourth game in succession that Ipswich have had postponed due to Covid-19, their games against Peterborough (a), Northampton (h) and AFC Wimbledon (a) having already been called off over the Christmas period.
The last time Paul Lambert's men played was the 2-1 home win against Burton on December 15, with their next scheduled fixture the Sky televised visit of Swindon Town next Saturday. That's a 25-day gap between games.
The Northampton and Peterborough games have been re-arranged in February, leaving Town facing a spell of 14 games in 50 days. As it stands, the Blues have just eight blank midweek slots between now and the final game of the season (May 8) and two games still to re-arrange.
With Covid-19 cases rising rapidly across the nation, several clubs in League One - including Ipswich, Fleetwood, Rochdale, Hull, Bristol Rovers, Peterborough, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Shrewsbury and Doncaster - have suffered outbreaks. Five of the 11 scheduled games for Boxing Day were postponed, with seven out of 12 games called off on Tuesday night and five more already postponed over the coming days.
Town boss Lambert and club physio Matt Byard have backed calls for a 'circuit breaker' which would see the campaign temporarily paused and extended into the summer.
With two top-flight games have been postponed due to Covid-19 in recent days, the Premier League has today announced that it 'has not discussed pausing the season and has no plans to do so'.
IPSWICH TOWN'S SCHEDULE
* Games against Peterborough (a), AFC Wimbledon (a) and Fleetwood (a) to be rearranged
JANUARY
Sat 9: Fleetwood (a)
Tues 5: BLANK
Sat 9: Swindon (h)
Tues 12: BLANK (EFL Trophy last 32)
Sat 16: Burton (a)
Tues 19: BLANK
Sat 23: Peterborough (h)
Tues 26: Sunderland (h)
Sat 30: Crewe (a)
FEBRUARY
Tues 2: BLANK (EFL Trophy QFs)
Sat 6: Blackpool (h)
Tues 9: Peterborough (a)
Sat 13: Shrewsbury (a)
Tues 16: Northampton (h)
Sat 20: Oxford Utd (h)
Tues 23: Hull (a)
Sat 27: Doncaster (h)
MARCH
Tues 2: Accrington (a)
Sat 6: Gillingham (a)
Tues 9: Lincoln (h)
Sat 13: Plymouth (h)
Tues 16: BLANK
Sat 20: Portsmouth (a)
Tues 23: BLANK
APRIL
Fri 2: Bristol R (h)
Mon 5: Rochdale (a)
Sat 10: MK Dons (h)
Tues 13: BLANK
Sat 17: Charlton (a)
Tues 20: Northampton (a)
Sat 24: AFC Wimbledon (h)
Tues 27: BLANK
MAY
Sat 1: Swindon (a)
Tues 4: BLANK
Sat 8: Fleetwood (h)
* League One PO Final scheduled for 29/31 May
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here