Football is one thing keeping folk going through this so I’m scared stiff every time I take a test
Robinson opens up on virus fears ahead of Europa League tie
THE mental toll of lockdown hit home for Stephen Robinson when he spoke to his elderly parents after Northern Ireland restrictions were tightened on Tuesday.
It comes at a time when the Motherwell boss revealed he is “scared stiff ” every time he is tested for Covid- 19 to ensure the Premiership season can continue.
And as Robinson frets over a negative result he insists the one huge positive amid the psychological strain of the pandemic is that football continues to be played.
The 45-year-old believes our game deserves huge credit for the way it has, in the main, coped with the stringent measures put in place by the Scottish government to ensure the show goes on.
And at a time when there are fears over the game being hit by further restrictions in the fight to stop the spread of the virus, Robinson highlighted the role football plays.
As the Well boss prepared to fly out to Israel today for his side’s Europa League qualifier against Hapoel Be’er Sheva, he said: “If we are talking about going into another lockdown or semi-lockdown, football is the one thing in the community that keeps everyone going mentally.
“The mental health side of things is absolutely huge. I spoke to my mum and dad and my mum’s on the phone worried that she’ll not get to see anyone for the next two months.
“Things like that and not being allowed out of your own postcode at the moment. So there is a real mental health issue too and football is the one thing that keeps people going and it gives them a purpose.
“It gives everyone a goal in the community to keep positive. We are going to have to live with this now. We live in a bubble but our players don’t live in a hotel, they go home to their family.
“People go to work and there is obviously a risk. Every time I get tested I’m scared stiff. We cover every protocol but when they go back to their families, if they were to touch something and somebody touches the same surface they can get it.
“There will be people who test positive and we have to live with that. That’s just the nature of this virus and we are no different from anyone else.
“I have no doubt that Scottish football has coped very well. We have had our lapses and people have made mistakes but they are young people and they do make mistakes at times. They’ve learned their lessons from that.”
Robinson knows they face a huge task, with a huge gulf in finances against a side who have regularly reached the Europa League group stage and lost to Celtic in a Champions League play-off thriller four years ago.
He said: “They’re on a different stratosphere to us financially in terms of the players they are able to recruit. But that means nothing in a one-off game.
“We will go there quietly confident because of our recent form. We are expecting a real test and one we are very much looking forward to.”