The Premier League began coronavirus testing academy players on Tuesday after concerns over increased cases at youth level.
Academy players and staff will now be tested twice weekly using lateral flow tests. A number of clubs have had issues with Covid outbreaks at academy level, with Arsenal and Chelsea both having had to close their youth training centres at times this season.
Youth leagues were curtailed during the first lockdown last season but have been allowed to continue this time around having been deemed part of the 'elite sport' group by government.
Senior players and staff are tested twice weekly with more accurate PCR tests, with lateral flow tests less accurate. The centralised testing will be run by the same company, Prenetics, who manage testing at senior level.
Preneteics CEO, Avi Lasarow, says academy players should have no concerns over the efficacy of lateral flow tests.
"The systems we use support very high efficacy rates even with lateral flow, 99 per cent even," Lasarow told Standard Sport. "The decision as to which methodology and testing technology is really down to each individual client."
In the last round of testing, the Premier League returned seven positive tests at senior level while the Football League found 19.