CORONAVIRUS rules in the English Football League (EFL) must change to avoid a repeat of the “ridiculous” scenes at Oxford United on Saturday.

That was head coach Karl Robinson’s assessment after their Sky Bet League One clash was called off less than 40 minutes before kick-off.

Visitors Crewe Alexandra, who reportedly had a positive Covid test earlier in the week, informed United about a second player having a confirmed case only after they arrived at the Kassam Stadium.

The player in question had gone for a private test on Thursday, but had travelled on the team bus a day later before receiving the result on Saturday morning.

Although Alexandra were happy to play, United were unwilling to risk their players’ safety.

Also read: EFL will look into Crewe Alexandra postponement at Oxford United

After a prolonged discussion, a visiting official emailed the EFL to say they could not fulfil the fixture.

Robinson, who called for the return of mandatory testing last month, feels games will continue to fall unless clubs below the Premier League are screened weekly, rather than when symptoms are shown.

He said: “From my point of view, this just seems to be a ridiculous situation we find ourselves in.

“What a great idea, let’s test each other and we could probably eradicate 80 per cent of these problems.”

He added: “Football is secondary to people’s health, that’s the most important thing.

“We get fluffy guidelines, inconsistency with the testing protocols.

Also read: Oxford United keen to rearrange Crewe clash quickly

“There’s a number of things that aren’t right.

“I still think the season should carry on, but the testing has to be correct.

“I think once they got a positive test they should have tested all their team and staff, before they travelled.”

United’s squad will be tested as a precaution this morning, with the club footing the bill.

Robinson had faced a similar set of circumstances a week earlier, when several of his own players were laid low by illness.

At that point those involved were tested and then isolated from the rest of the group until their negative results came through.

It meant they ended up driving separately to Accrington last weekend.

The United boss said: “We had academy players on stand-by to come up on the day because we couldn’t afford more rooms.

“All of (the ill players) were waiting for test results before travelling.

“They did not train with us, because it’s the right thing to do.”