Brighton and Aston Villa international stars ruled-out with Covid-19

Albion midfielder Alexis Mac Allister worked so hard for his Argentina recall but his hopes of representing his country tomorrow have been dashed after testing positive for Covid-19.

Mac Allister has been far from a regular in the Brighton line-up this season but has forced his way into Graham Potter's team of late and grasped his chance with string of top level performances.

It saw him selected for Lionel Scaloni's squad but he will not travel to Chile for the match at the Estadio Zorros del Desierto.

Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni and Aston Villa midfielder Emi Buendía also miss the trip for covid reasons.

Yesterday Premier League clubs agreed changes to Covid postponement rules.

Clubs must have at least four Covid-19 cases within their squad to apply for a postponement.

The league said the new rules would take effect ahead of the next Premier League fixture, the rearranged match between Burnley and Watford on February 5.

Under the previous rules, where a club could not field 13 outfield players and a goalkeeper either from its squad list or its appropriately experienced under-21 players, the match would be postponed. At least one of the unavailable players had to have tested positive for Covid-19.

Now, at least four of the players absent and leaving a club with less than the minimum 14 eligible players must be positive Covid-19 cases.