Morecambe's players have had their Covid-19 vaccinations

The Shrimps met Oxford United last Saturday with opposition boss Karl Robinson back in the dugout, having missed three games after a positive coronavirus test.

Oxford won all three of those matches, though technology meant the manager was still able to watch proceedings, as well as monitor training and players’ workloads.

“I would imagine Karl’s coaching staff would have had the team well prepared,” the Morecambe boss said of Oxford’s upheaval.

“They know what he wants but it’s one of those things in the world we live nowadays.”

Morecambe are another club to have had their share of issues with the pandemic during the last 20 months.

Last season’s Christmas and New Year matches at Bolton Wanderers and Bradford City were postponed because of a Covid-19 outbreak, seeing the club’s training ground closed for 10 days with players and staff forced into isolation.

Former skipper Sam Lavelle also missed the FA Cup trip to Chelsea after testing positive as clubs found themselves in unprecedented times.

The ongoing work to combat Covid-19 means booster vaccines are now being rolled out for those people who had their first two doses.

However, footballers and vaccinations haven’t made for a happy relationship.

A BBC report last month said it understood 49 per cent of EFL players were fully vaccinated by September.

West Bromwich Albion striker Callum Robinson attracted his share of headlines after saying he would not be vaccinated despite having had Covid-19 on two occasions.

Higher up the pyramid, Wolves have publicly confirmed all of their players and coaching staff were fully vaccinated, while Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp revealed the Anfield club’s vaccination rate was at ‘99 per cent’ last month.

Although every Morecambe player is now fully vaccinated, the manager is still cautioning against any complacency.

He said: “We’ve got every player double vaccinated but, even then, you’re still mixing in normal circumstances at this moment in time.

“You never know what you’re going to wake up with. Scott Wootton was ill, he didn’t have coronavirus but he did have a chest infection which has been going around.

“Every club is in the same boat when it comes to facing this issue.”

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