Newcastle United’s trip to Aston Villa on Friday became the first Premier League fixture postponed because of a Covid-19 outbreak.
Sportsmail understands the Magpies have severe concerns that the spread of the virus within their first-team squad will become worse should they travel to and from Birmingham and stay overnight.
Sportsmail has been told that the number of infected individuals is ‘more severe’ than the five that were reported on Monday - forcing the closure of the club’s training ground - and could yet rise.
The concern they have is that some individuals who have tested negative this week could travel with the group only to later test positive, as is suspected was the case during last weekend’s trip to Crystal Palace.