Former Workington Reds defender James Bolton has been confirmed as testing positive for coronavirus.

Bolton, 25, is one of four Portsmouth players who were tested and shown to be infected, with the result that all are now in self isolation.

All Portsmouth’s players were tested after they had played Arsenal in the FA Cup. A number of Gunners' players had been in contact with Evangelos Marinikas, owner of Olympiacos, on the night they played Arsenal in the Europa League.

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, subsequently tested positive, and two lots of testing were carried out on the Portsmouth squad.

Bolton, Sean Raggett, Haji Mnoga and Andy Cannon all tested positive and have taken appropriate action.

The players were tested a week ago, and the first batch of results came through on Friday.

Stoke-born Bolton made his breakthrough at Macclesfield Town after spending time on loan with Workington in Conference North.

He played 13 games for Reds in 2012, scoring one goal, and it was clear then, as a raw 17-year-old, that he had a future in the game higher up the ladder.

He subsequently played 98 games for Halifax Town, a good number in the National Conference before switching to Gateshead.

He made his Football League breakthrough with Shrewsbury Town, and after two seasons, joined Portsmouth at the start of the current campaign.

He has played 22 times for Pompey and has established himself as a first team regular.

Chief executive Mark Catlin has spoken to three of the infected players and of the trio, he revealed one was completely unaware he was carrying the virus.

"I won’t name him, because it’s not fair, but one has had a cough for a week or two that no one really thought much of. It was a little tickly cough.

"One has no symptoms whatsoever, and a third reported that a couple of days ago he was tasting things slightly differently, subsequently that coming out as one of the potential symptoms.

"Apart from that they are all fit, healthy and, I’m sure, don’t really know what the fuss is about.’

All three had started Portsmouth’s most recent match – a 2-2 draw with Fleetwood on March 10.

Catlin added: "The good thing is, at their age and given their health, statistically they should be fine, but it’s a wake-up call.

"The concern is people of a lower risk passing it on to those in the elder age group with an underlying health issue – that’s where the real problem lies.

"The three are absolutely fine, they just have to play this one out now, along with the rest of the country.”