Aston Villa have reportedly asked the Premier League to postpone their second league match in a row and reschedule Sunday's fixture against Everton.
Dean Smith's side are continuing to battle against a Covid-19 outbreak within the squad, and successfully requested for their Wednesday night fixture against Tottenham to be put back as a result.
Now the Midlands club have asked to avoid another match-day in order to facilitate the full recovery of the squad and get players back with full preparation, as report the Times.
Villa's clash with Spurs was axed after nine players and five members of staff tested positive last week, with the club also forced to field academy players in an FA Cup fixture with Liverpool, which they lost 4-1.
In making their case to the Premier League, Villa have reportedly told the football body that they remain locked out of their training ground and may not return there before the weekend, which they believe makes it impossible for them to prepare properly and safely for the match on Sunday.
The game against Carlo Ancelotti's side is set to kick-off at 12pm midday, though an update from the Premier League regarding the situation is expected imminently.
Villa's next scheduled match after Sunday is away to Manchester City next Wednesday.
On Tuesday Premier League chief executive Richard Masters sent a letter to all 20 clubs in the top flight outlining that two new protocols would be introduced to try to ensure as much clarity as possible over how the league reaches decisions on if and how Covid-affected clubs are entitled to be granted match postponements.
The protocols will be met in the form of the information clubs must provide to justify a full match postponement, and also the specific response clubs should make to Covid outbreaks accordingly.
Outlining that postponement decisions can, unfortunately, be made at the last minute, Masters wrote: 'We must do all we can to efficiently utilise all available calendar slots, given there have been three significant Covid-19 outbreaks at clubs to date and we should therefore realistically plan for the fact that there may be more.
'Inevitably, requests for postponements will be at short notice and present difficulties for all parties and we appreciate clubs’ ongoing flexibility.'
Just this week Fulham manager Scott Parker and Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho butted heads as a result of eleventh hour fixture changes.
With Villa pulling out of Wednesday's clash with Spurs, Fulham have been drafted in instead, to fulfill a fixture which itself had previously been postponed due to coronavirus.
Parker has been left furious by the late notice, labeling the decision to notify Fulham of the rearranged fixture at such late notice as 'scandalous'.
Parker said in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday: 'The possibility of playing Spurs on Wednesday came on Saturday.
'We didn't think that was realistic and we were informed Monday morning at 9.30. To confirm that on Monday morning is scandalous...'
He added: 'It's not about the fixture. The fixture is - to be honest with you - that's fine I accept that we have to play but it's the notice.'
Mourinho however hit back immediately, pointing out that his side previously had their fixture postponed on the day of the game itself, and that Parker and Fulham should issue a public apology if - after his venting - he goes on to name a full strength squad.
'We played every week three matches a week,' said Mourinho. 'We played in one week, four matches. They played Saturday against QPR. They have Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to prepare for the game.
'If they come with half of the team, I will be the first one to apologise to them, and I will be the first to say we played this game with an advantage.
'If they come with their best team, I think they should apologise to all of us.'
Source: m.allfootballapp.com