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Aston Villa boss Dean Smith opens up on 'scary' Covid outbreak that ripped through the club's Bodymoor Heath training ground with NINE players infected as he admits he refused to touch any surfaces

Dean Smith was so frightened by the coronavirus outbreak at Aston Villa's training ground that he avoided touching any surface to protect himself against the disease.

In one of the worst cases of Covid-19 to hit the Premier League so far, nine players and five staff members tested positive for the virus earlier this month, forcing the entire first-team bubble to isolate for 10 days.

It meant the fixtures against Tottenham and Everton were postponed, while Villa fielded a team of Under-23 and Under-18 players in their FA Cup third-round defeat by Liverpool.