Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera faces match-fixing court date delay

Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera's court appearance in relation to the Spanish match-fixing scandal has been delayed until 27 April.

The 25-year-old was initially due to testify on 5 March, after United's Premier League game against Newcastle United, however a failure to contact all the relevant personnel has led to a postponement.

Spanish publication AS reports that Herrera is due to appear in court less than 24 hours after the match against Everton at Goodison Park, a turnaround which potentially rules him out of the critical fixture in United's Champions League qualification hopes if not for longer.

Herrera is one of 41 individuals called to give evidence by chief prosecutor Alejandro Luzon regarding the Levante-Real Zaragoza fixture in May 2011 in what could prove a historic case in Spanish domestic football.

Luzon has alleged that Zaragoza paid Levante's players €965,000 to lose the game and allow them to avoid relegation from La Liga on the final day of the 2010/11 season. That money was supposedly paid into the accounts of nine Zaragoza players, then-manager Javier Aguirre and Antonio Prieto before being paid in cash to Levante's players.

Two payments amounting to €90,000 are alleged to have been paid into Herrera's account but the former Spanish youth international said last year his "conscience is totally clear".

Since being named among the people charged with fixing the game in question Herrera's appearances have been sporadic for new club United. Indeed he has made just two Premier League starts in the first two months of 2015.

Though hamstrung by injury, Herrera's continued omission has been telling and manager Louis van Gaal indicated during his pre-match press conference to preview the trip to Newcastle that the player has been affected by the ongoing allegations.

"The environment [around] a human being is very important," he said. "When it is like that he [Herrera] will be influenced."

If found guilty, players including current Atletico Madrid captain Gabi and Swansea City winger Jefferson Montero could face jail time ranging from six months to four years, while bans from football could be from one to six years. Fines may top €5.5m while Zaragoza and Levante could suffer points deductions.