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Slaven Bilic officially told that Newcastle United v West Brom game is going ahead

3 years ago
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Slaven Bilic says that for he and his players it is ‘normal preparation’ for the scheduled match at St James Park on Saturday.

The West Brom manager telling Sky Sports that he had been officially told that the game was going ahead.

Slaven Bilic stating: ‘It wasn’t us who was monitoring the situation at Newcastle, it was Newcastle and the Premier League, and they decided that the situation had improved a lot. They told us the game is on, so we don’t have any doubts.’

The West Brom boss says that it is difficult to tell just how much, if any, the virus situation will impact on Newcastle’s performance on Saturday.

Slaven Bilic explaining that when West Brom had a number of virus cases, some players finding themselves totally unaffected physically after testing positive, able to play at their usual level once they had finished self-isolating, though some players found it a ‘little more difficult’ than others.

Slaven Bilic speaking to Sky Sports ahead of playing Newcastle United:

“They [Newcastle] opened their training ground [on Tuesday] and we knew we were going to play the game [at St James Park on Saturday].

“So it is normal preparation.

“It looks positive, hopefully we are going to play it and that’s good news.

“It wasn’t us who was monitoring the situation at Newcastle, it was Newcastle and the Premier League, and they decided that the situation had improved a lot.

“They told us the game is on, so we don’t have any doubts.

“I didn’t have any of the guys [West Brom players] knocking on my door saying they are worried because Newcastle has got a number of cases.

“This is serious, football and the Premier League would not allow any sort of those things to happen, they wouldn’t risk the health of the players. Newcastle wouldn’t do it.

“It [Newcastle’s team] doesn’t have to be [weakened because of the virus cases].

“We had a significant number of players [in the past with the virus] and they were not all weak when they came back to training.

“Some of them were in a shape like they were before we found out they were positive.

“Some of them found it a little bit more difficult.

“I don’t know the situation for Newcastle.

“It is definitely not a good thing for them but we are not expecting the guys who are unfit to start the game.

“It depends, it is all individual, but we have a preparation where we are expecting a team that is fully fit, full of confidence.

“I feel the connection [with West Brom fans].

“I have a job to do and I am totally focused on how to win the games: me, the staff and the players.

“It’s nice to know the fans are recognising the situation but we have to pick up the points.”

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