English Championship side Millwall's next two games with second-tier high-fliers Bournemouth and Watford have been postponed due to an outbreak of coronavirus in their squad, the club announced on Monday.

The 2004 FA Cup finalists closed their training ground after an undisclosed number of individuals within the first-team squad contracted Covid-19.

"This is a very regrettable but necessary move," said Millwall chief executive Steve Kavanagh.

"Throughout this entire pandemic the safety and welfare of our players, staff, fans and other stakeholders has been our main priority and it is with this in mind that we have closed the training ground and notified the EFL of the need to postpone the next two fixtures."

London-based Millwall -- who are 16th in the table, nine points clear of the relegation zone -- were due to play second-placed Bournemouth on Saturday and Watford, who are fifth, on December 29.

The club is based in the epicentre of the new variant of Covid-19 which is 70 percent more contagious than the original strain.

The British government has placed both London and the southeast of England in "tier four", which is effectively a total lockdown.