Alexander left bemused after Covid rule change

MOTHERWELL will request clarity from the Joint Response Group and the Scottish authorities after what appears to be a change in coronavirus legislation midway through the season.

The Fir Park side were irked that an unnamed Dundee United player was cleared to play against them last night after a false positive test. It is understood that the Tannadice club were contacted on the eve of the game by the Scottish government and the Scottish FA doctor to give the green light on the player being available for selection.

It is a significant deviation from the legislation that was in place for the opening half of the season with no clubs believed to have been briefed about a change in the rules.

Hamilton lost three players in September in similar circumstances with the trio all forced to self-isolate for 10 days while Hibs manager Jack Ross was vocal with his frustrations when midfielder Alex Gogic missed his first international call-up after a false positive.

“If there is a change and we have not had the communication then that’s not right,” said Motherwell manager Graham Alexander. “Will I now try and get clarification on the rules? Yes, we have got loads of protocols in place and we are trying to do the right thing.

“I will be honest, I didn’t even know there was a positive test until a couple of hours before the game. I didn’t really want to get involved in that before the game. By then I was just focusing on the game and on my team.”

Dundee United manager Micky Mellon was reluctant to be drawn on the intricacies of the situation but confirmed that the club had been given the all-clear by the authorities.

“One of the players returned a false positive,” he said. “We got word back late on Tuesday night and we got on with it. People then came back to us with the necessary information and we moved ahead and got on with it.”