Tottenham confirm false positive coronavirus tests for two players

Tottenham have confirmed that the two players who were reported to have coronavirus actually returned false positive tests, meaning they will be available for their side's trip to Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.

Spurs did not reveal the identities of the stricken pair when they announced the news earlier this week for medical confidentiality reasons.

Losing two first-teamers would have been a significant blow to Nuno Espirito Santo ahead of the Newcastle game.

Fortunately for the Spurs boss, it has since emerged that the players had not in fact contracted coronavirus.

"Following a number of reports regarding the health of our players, the Club would like provide clarity to events of the past 48 hours," the club revealed.

"After further analysis following Premier League protocol, two players – whose names will not be disclosed due to medical confidentiality – returned false positive tests for COVID-19 on Friday after returning from international duty."

Tottenham will be eager to get three points in the north east as they have been struggling in recent weeks. They currently sit in mid-table with 12 points from seven games, but did secure a valuable victory over Aston Villa before the international break. 

Prior to that though, they slipped to back-to-back London derby humiliations at the hands of Chelsea and Arsenal respectively.

Meanwhile, Newcastle will be out to impress their new owners in what seems likely to be Steve Bruce’s final game in charge of the Magpies. Although he has voiced his desire to stay on before the game, the Saudi-backed consortium are keen to move him on.

Assistant manager Graeme Jones had been expected to take charge for the Spurs game before Bruce was backed to stay at the eleventh hour.