"Sport comes second!" Boston United's players have been given the day off to 'minimise risk' of Coronavirus reaching the camp

Pilgrims unsure whether training base will remain available...
Craig Elliott.Craig Elliott.
Craig Elliott.

Boston United boss Craig Elliott says sport must come a distant second to people's health, after today's fixture at Chester was postponed due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Despite the Premier League and EFL being among those to postpone games in a bid to stop the virus spreading, the National League gave the go-ahead for their member clubs to continue playing yesterday.

However, hosts Chester were one of the clubs to take measures into their own hands and call off the contest.

"People's health is the most important thing. Sport comes second to that," said Elliott, whose players have been given the day off.

"We didn't train today, purely to try to minimise the risk."

Elliott, however, is unsure whether any of his players have yet been affected by the virus.

With squad members living in a number of densely populated areas, and coming from as far afield as Liverpool and Blackburn, Pontefract-based Elliott knows he cannot be sure if Coronavirus has reached his camp yet.

Harrogate Town postponed their contest with Solihull Moors this week as four members of staff went into self isolation.

A number of the Boston squad have played for Town in previous seasons and still have close links with the club.

"We don't know how it will affect our players," Elliott added.

"There's the Harrogate Town situation, and a lot of our players have friends at the club, so we have to find out if any of them have been in contact."

United also need to assess whether they can continue train to at Doncaster Rovers' Keepmoat Stadium facilities due to the club being among those in League One that have had their season suspended.

"With Doncaster Rovers being down I'm not sure how that will affect us yet, whether their facilities are being opened or not," Elliott added.