Conor Coady: Wolves players concerned over coronavirus risk in Athens

Wolves travelled yesterday to face the Greek club having failed in an appeal to have the Europa League last-16 first leg tie postponed, after Olympiacos owner Evangelos Maranakis announced he had contracted coronavirus.

The match was already scheduled to be played with no supporters in the ground and Wolves expressed disappointment and UEFA’s decision not to postpone it once news of Maranakis’ diagnosis emerged.

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Coady conceded players had been unable to avoid the uncertainty around the fixture and when asked whether he had any concerns replied: “That’s the thing really. You go home to your wives and kids after the game so that’s the priority.

“We need to make sure it’s right when we’re going home but yeah, we read everything, we see everything.

“We’ve seen the game postponed tonight between Manchester City and Arsenal but as players there’s not a lot we can do. All we can do is train, prepare, listen to our manager and play.”

Olympiacos announced yesterday morning all of their players and coaching staff had tested negative for the virus.

Though Wolves have put no extra health measures in place for players, the club did get special dispensation from UEFA to cancel their official pre-match press conference. Players will also be kept away from the media after the match.

Coady hopes the unusual build-up does not distract from what is a huge occasion for Wolves.

He said: “We’ve been thinking about it over the last couple of day about what’s going to happen, how it’s going to go and how it’s going to pan out.

“We know the club have been doing things behind the scenes, trying to sort something out.

“We make sure we prepare right and compete in something that is an actual fantastic game for this football club, which I think everybody is forgetting. So, we’ll go over there to try and do that.

“It’s a huge competition and a huge game but one that’s had a lot of things surrounding it. We’ve seen everything but we’ve prepared right. We’re professionals in terms of what we do and how we do it. We’re prepared to make sure that we go there and compete.”