Karren Brady has revealed details of the Premier League’s criteria for teams returning to play matches, pointing out an inconsistency with another one of the new rules. West Ham will be expected to fulfil Premier League fixtures as long as they have 15 fit players available, meaning they could theoretically be forced to name a bench of just four players when David Moyes will be able to field five substitutes due to the exceptional circumstances.
Karren Brady said “There was a long discussion about squad management, or put simply, what constitutes, having a team fit enough to compete in the games left to play, There are obvious and genuine concerns about what happens to your match results if your club has a number of players testing positive for coronavirus, or in self-isolation. Well as long as you have 15 fit players, including one goalkeeper, made up from either your 25-man squad list or from your under-21’s, you will be deemed to have a team fit enough to fulfil the fixture. I guess that puts an end to the suggestion of having five subs, because if only 15 are needed you can’t have five subs.”
