‘PL sides should help struggling teams’

Liverpool manager Klopp believes lower division clubs deserve assistance

LONDON:

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said Premier League teams should look to help England's lower division clubs that have taken huge financial hits amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The English Football League (EFL) oversees the three tiers below the Premier League - the Championship, League One and League Two - and clubs in these divisions largely rely on matchday revenue to operate.

The British government this week postponed plans to allow a limited number of fans back into stadiums from October after a second wave of Covid-19 infections and the move is expected to have a massive impact.

"In general people in a better position should help people in a less good position, 100%," Klopp told a news conference ahead of Monday's league clash against Arsenal.

"I don't understand the structure 100% - in Germany you have Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, so they have to share the problems so that makes things slightly easier.

"There isn't a general answer... the position in this moment for all clubs isn't really easy. I don't know how the government finds time to think about that, but I get it... football should try to help themselves, ourselves."

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard had said starting his career at the bottom of the soccer pyramid had helped him understand the challenges they face.

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder said he had sympathy for the struggling teams.

"From a business point of view they've taken huge hits and hopefully everybody will come through it, but there has to be a concern about what's going off at the moment," Wilder said.

"Nobody wants any club to go by the wayside... If anything can be done by the Premier League and they make a decision collectively... to help, then we would."

‘Delays in results adding to stress’

Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Nuno Espirito Santo has said delays in receiving Covid-19 test results were affecting many Premier League clubs as they prepare for matches.

Wolves travel to West Ham United on Sunday and Nuno said at a news conference on Friday that they had still not got the results from tests conducted earlier in the day.

"It's very disruptive for preparation and planning," Nuno told reporters.

"It's tough for us, you get tested - we got tested today - and we don't know the results. We're preparing for the match on Sunday and having the stress about the final result... can you use a player, can you not?

"Faster results of the test would help all teams immensely so we can proceed without having these problems."

West Ham assistant coach Alan Irvine, who took charge for Tuesday's 5-1 League Cup win over Hull City after manager David Moyes tested positive, suggested that the delays could be because of how busy laboratories are.

"Normally test results have come back quickly but the labs are finding it more difficult because of the amount of tests they have to do for people outside football," Irvine added.

"It's a situation that's out of our control. We'll be tested next on Monday and we have the game at Everton (in the League Cup) on Wednesday... we could find ourselves in a situation where we're travelling to Everton not knowing the results."

West Ham, whose players Issa Diop and Josh Cullen are also self-isolating after testing positive, will have Moyes back in charge for Sunday's match although the Scot will be making all the decisions remotely.