“It’s been challenging, but Patrick [Vieira] is OK,” he said in his pre-match interview, filling in for Vieira who is self-isolating. “I spoke to him at length this morning as we’ve been preparing for the game. Now we’re here, we’re getting on with it.
“There’s a combination of injuries, COVID and some returning from COVID and not ready to be able to participate in this game, so it’s a combination. But we’ve been preparing all week, the game plan is the same, and we’ve all been together so now we’re looking forward to the game.
Roberts reiterated that plans had been made to minimise the level of disruption caused by players missing out.
“We’ve been working diligently to make sure we are prepared for this game,” he explained. “It’s an important part of the season, an important week for us. We’ve been focusing on that. We’re here and we’re looking to perform.
“We very rarely make a decision on selection before the day of the game. We have to take many things into consideration, and as a consequence the decision would have been made today on selection anyway.
“We left things as late as we can, because anything can happen – especially in this period. We’re professional. We’re here to play the game, and it’s a really important game for us.”