KARL Robinson knows all too well that Covid is still very much part of everyday life.

The Oxford United head coach takes his side into tonight’s Sky Bet League One visit of Fleetwood Town with seven first-team players isolating after testing positive for the virus.

The U’s committed to playing the fixture after no further cases were identified yesterday morning, having postponed Saturday’s trip to Wigan Athletic due to the outbreak.

It comes just a month after Robinson tested positive, while the United boss revealed his wife has now caught the virus.

He said: “We’re still under very difficult circumstances right now, even though life’s almost back to normal.

“I’ve seen the harsh reality first-hand over the last six weeks with my daughter, myself and now my wife getting it over the weekend.

“It is real, it is out there, it has affected some of my players horrifically and some of them have breezed through it.”

Read also: Karl Robinson on Oxford United's goalkeeping crisis

Simon Eastwood, Anthony Forde, Elliott Moore, John Mousinho, Mark Sykes, Matty Taylor and Jordan Thorniley are all isolating.

They are the latest in a string of United players to catch the virus in recent months, leaving Robinson with no more than 14 first-teamers to pick from tonight.

The virus has also struck United’s staff, with youth team coach Darren Purse stepping in as goalkeeping coach for Wayne Brown, who was among those to test positive.

“We’ve been working on shape and tactics, I’ve tried to make it as simplistic as possible,” Robinson said.

“My head of medical’s down, my analyst is down and my head of goalkeeping is down.

“We’re also very short-staffed, to the point Darren Purse will be taking the goalkeepers.

“We’re working around the clock to make us as competitive as we possibly can.”

United will operate under strict coronavirus protocols at their training ground in the coming days.

Although all seven players tested positive on the morning of the game, their ten-day isolation periods end at different times based on when they started feeling unwell.

And Robinson insists United will take no chances ahead of Saturday’s visit of second-placed Rotherham United.

He said: “Two of them had a head cold on Tuesday and they were tested four times.

“We just have to wait and see how they react over the next few days.

“None of them will be available for Saturday.

“They wouldn’t be allowed back in the building until Saturday anyway, and because those two have had symptoms you’ve got to put them through return to play protocols.

“If players are fit and ready and the guidelines allow them back, that will be the case.

“If they’re not, they certainly won’t be coming back into this building.”