St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson has been forced to rule out four key players from Wednesday’s basement clash with Ross County.
Two unnamed stars have now joined strikers Chris Kane and Eetu Vertainen in isolation for 10 days after household members tested positive for Covid-19.
And the Perth manager warned Scottish football should brace itself for another wave of Covid cases.
“Unfortunately, we have four players out of the game because of Covid rules and regulations,” revealed Davidson.
“They are all first team squad players.
‘Ongoing issue’
“It’s frustrating because there’s nothing we can do about it, especially with the new rules coming in.
“It is a really difficult one when you are asking players to be safe when, at St Johnstone, a lot of the wives work and they have kids who are at school.
“We have stuck with the testing and red zones all the way through this.
“We can say ‘stay safe’ but it is very, very difficult for us as a club to control.
“It’s not just us, it happens at other clubs as well. I suspect it is going to be an issue ongoing for the next while.
“If it follows the same surge as England there will be a lot of cases coming our way in Scottish football.
“There will be a lot more issues and more players having to isolate, even if they are double vaccinated and boosted.
“I don’t know the answer to getting a team out and having a level playing field for everyone, not just myself.
“If a team has seven or eight players having to isolate it will be a real difficult one for the league.”
Davidson admits the situation is reminiscent of the uncertainty around Covid cases in the countdown to May’s Scottish Cup final win over Hibs.
“The phone calls seem to be coming every day,” he said.
“There was a raft of cases back then (before the Scottish Cup final), despite all the measures we had in place in the building.
“Hopefully no one has passed it over unknowingly. We are having checks every day now.
“The good news is that Chris Kane is still testing negative and should be ok for the Celtic game on Boxing Day.
“It’s not ideal but I have Murray Davidson and Ali Crawford back fully fit to face Ross County.
“And Jacob Butterfield has had good minutes into him so I am happy with the squad I have got for the game.”
