London, Dec 18 (IANS): Aston Villa's match against Burnley on Saturday has been postponed due to more Covid-19 cases in the Villa squad, the Premier League announced just two hours before kickoff.

Villa-Burnley is the 10th Premier League match to be postponed over the past week because of Covid-19 cases within clubs, and the sixth from this weekend's fixture list.

"Due to more positive cases in the Aston Villa squad today, the Premier League Board has regrettably had to postpone the club's home fixture against Burnley, due to kick off at 15:00 GMT this afternoon," the Premier League said in a statement.

"After reviewing all the new information provided by Villa this morning and receiving separate medical advice, the Board approved the request as a result of the club not having enough players to field a team.

"This decision was based on the number of COVID-19 cases, injuries, and illness," it added.

Meanwhile, Villa apologised to Burnley and their fans but said they acted "as swiftly as possible" to "minimise disruption".

"The club is extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused to Burnley Football Club, both our own supporters and the Burnley fans due to attend the fixture," read an Aston Villa statement.

The Premier League also said that it understands the decision to postpone the game a little more than two hours before kick-off "will frustrate and disappoint supporters".

"The remaining four Premier League matches due to be played this weekend are currently scheduled to proceed as planned," it added.