STARS FEARED FOR FAMILIES
13 Parkhead stars were ordered to isolate along with boss Neil Lennon and No.2 John Kennedy in the wake of Christopher Jul li en contract ing cononavirus in Dubai.
Celtic’s squad last night all posted negative results following Friday’s tests with Easter Road chiefs requesting another round of testing yesterday – but the SPFL refused.
Kevin Nisbet struck in stoppage time and Ross said: “The difference compared to previous occasions this season is that the prevalence of the virus means it’s the first time players’ families have expressed concerns to the players themselves.
“That changes the dynamic slightly. As responsible employers that will force you to seek reassurance.
“In terms of the football side they were always focused on that. But they were well within their rights to express any concerns they had.
“I have a responsibility to look after my players. That’s all we did. And we were well within our rights to do so. If I had lost the game I wouldn’t use it as an excuse because we are professional enough to deal with it but it was strange.
“No one declined to play. I don’t think any of our players didn’t want to play but the current environment has probably made family members more anxious than they have been in the past.”
Hibs have also asked for guarantees their Betfred Cup semi-final clash with St Johnstone in less than two weeks will be postponed if there are any positive cases on the back of last night’s draw.
A Hibs statement said: “We regarded this as a reasonable request – given the incubation period of the virus – but unfortunately our request was refused.
“The SPFL made clear that not fulfilling the fixture would have severe consequences for Hibs.
“We have been assured by the SPFL that any Covid 19 issues that may arise from fulfilling this fixture will be taken into account, and the semif inal postponed if required.”
Director of football Gr a e m e Ma t h i e added: “What we’re dealing with over the course of this weekend is unprecedented.
“It’s different to any other situation we’ve faced so far in football.
“And certainly, in my view and our view it should have been treated as such. I would say I didn’t think it was an unreasonable request. I know it’s not necessarily something that’s been done before.
“But it was something I thought would give our players and staff peace of mind about coming into the environment tonight, if they’d been able to do that.
“It was something we requested and something that was rejected – both by our opponents and the league. In essence there was no option but to come here and play.
“It’s right that I can go and ask some relevant questions of the relevant people.
“Unfortunately the answers we got weren’t what I was looking for.
“The main conversation I had was with Fraser Wishart at PFA Scotland.
“We need to understand that we’re employers and we have employees.
“I spoke to Fraser about his take on it, asked if there were any members expressing concerns.rns.
“I also spoke too David Gray, who is ourur club captain and PFA Scot-cotland rep for thee club. But the conversation didn’t get much further before we understood that we had to come and play the game anyway.
“Continuing the conversation wasn’t going too make much of a difference.”