Scott Parker has raised concerns about player welfare after branding the Premier League's decision to rearrange Fulham's game at Tottenham for Wednesday "unfair and wrong".

The league first raised the possibility that Spurs could face Fulham – their original opponents Aston Villa had a coronavirus outbreak – over the weekend, but the final decision was taken on Monday morning.

Fulham had been due to play at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 30 before the squad returned a "significant number" of positive Covid-19 tests and had to have two matches postponed, with Parker worried that a number of players could suffer injuries after being forced back into the fold too soon.

The request from Villa had to be received and signed off before Fulham could be contacted. Confirmation was only possible on Monday once all the clubs and broadcasters affected by the rescheduling had been consulted.

Fulham were signatories last September to a set of guiding principles which are contained within the league's handbook. One of these states: "Clubs must accept changes to normal conditions and schedules in order to ensure the completion of the competition."

In section C of the handbook it states the league can, "having given consideration to the health and safety of participating players, (require) that clubs participate in matches at more frequent intervals than initially scheduled".