Premier League players in tier four areas will be tested for Covid-19 twice a week as soon as it is practically possible to do so, the PA news agency understands.

Players in the top flight have been tested on a weekly basis since the start of the 2020-21 season.

But testing at clubs in tier four areas will now revert to the level used during ‘Project Restart’ in the summer. The increased testing will be widened out to clubs in lower-tier areas from next month, it is understood.

The Government placed large parts of south-east and eastern England into tier four last weekend over fears of a new strain of the virus which is believed to be more transmissible.

Stoke manager Michael O’Neill believes football has done well to avoid having greater numbers of games called off.

The former Northern Ireland boss said: “To be honest I thought it maybe would have happened earlier than now and, possibly, a little bit more frequently than it has happened.

“But the situation is what it is. We just have to deal with it. As a club we’ve handled the situation well.

“We’ve had one or two players that have missed games and periods of self-isolation but, overall, we’ve been pretty consistent and we’ve not been at a stage where these clubs are who have had to cancel games.”