Growing doubt over Wigan Athletic-Accrington Stanley clash

Unlike most clubs, Stanley have managed to keep playing during the festive period, following up their Boxing Day win over leaders Rotherham with a 0-0 draw at Shrewsbury on Wednesday night.

But after the game, Coleman revealed exactly how tough his side have been doing it.

"I'm going to give our players a lot of credit tonight, because a lot of teams would have had that game called off," he said.

"We'd had five players out with Covid, another four or five really ill, and are battling with it.

"Four or five players went out there barely able to breathe, so to be able to get 90 minutes out of them, is fantastic testament to their character and their will to win."

When asked about the weekend trip to the DW, Coleman was unable to confirm the fixture would be fulfilled

"We're trying to keep going if we can," he added. "But they're dropping like flies at the moment, and it is difficult.

"We're trying to follow all the protocols that we can, and we are, and we are testing regularly.

"But you can't test for bronchitis in these tests.

"I know Covid affects people differently, and a lot of people have lost their lives from it, so I'm not going to be churlish about it.

"But when I had it, I wasn't ill, whereas I know other lads have been struggling to breathe with other illnesses.

"So I think we've got to be really mindful of that, and we don't neglect that."

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