COLCHESTER United’s Florence Park training ground will undergo a full deep clean following Covid-19 cases within the U’s squad.

The club’s League Two clash with Tranmere Rovers was suspended on Saturday, after coronavirus issues became evident in both squads.

The Gazette understands two Colchester players tested positive for coronavirus this week, with several other squad members having been in contact with them.

The U’s first-team squad and coaching staff will report to the JobServe Community Stadium on Monday morning for the EFL’s mandatory testing process across all clubs.

Colchester general manager Tim Waddington said: “The training ground will go through a sanitising process.

“The boys will be here on Monday to be tested and the squad will be tested.

“We’ll have to wait for the results and work out what we do, going forward.

“But we have plans in place to make sure that we no longer risk contamination and the areas where people potentially have been will be closed off, deep cleaned and sanitised and then we’ll get back to work.

“Those that have tested positive are to a degree, asymptomatic.

“They’re young, fit athletes so the percentage chance of them surviving this and doing well is considerably better than perhaps an older person.”

Colchester announced their League Two match against Tranmere, due to take place at the JobServe Community Stadium, was postponed at 1.50pm on Saturday afternoon.

In addition to the U’s cases, Tranmere’s club secretary Tim Roberts contacted the U’s on the morning of the game to warn them that several of their players had woken up showing Covid-19 symptoms.

“It was the right decision,” said Waddington.

“If you look at the startling rise in cases in Essex and the impact that is having on the NHS, it would be foolish and naïve of us to think we could continue doing what we’ve been doing, without having an impact on them.

“You have to assess the risk and work out whether or not it’s viable and our decision was that it’s not viable.

“If you look at the fixtures last week, I think seven fixtures were lost in League One and a couple in League Two.

“This won’t be the first time that this has happened but hopefully, we’ve put processes in place to react and deal with it professionally and efficiently.

“One very, very small blessing is that there were no fans here and fans don’t suffer that same disruption.

“It’s challenging for any business and any organisation, at this moment in time.

“Everyone has to learn how to deal with things.

“Our business is around sport and it’s about bringing spectators into stadia to watch sport – it’s crippling to not have the revenue stream of our fans here, supporting the club.

“That in itself has been a challenge but we’ve adapted and we followed and established protocols to get us to a position where we feel we’re safe to operate.

“Those protocols were compromised (for the Tranmere game) and in all honesty, we can’t assess the risk and say any other way.

“You put processes in place to deal with what you believe is going to come.”