Accies’ Covid chaos
Club has three positives, while Hodson self-isolates, ahead of Kilmarnock clash
Hamilton chairman Allan Maitland fears being unable to field a “competitive team” after being rocked by three positive Covid tests.
Accies defender Lee Hodson, who lives with St Mirren goalkeeper Jak Alnwick who returned a positive test, is also currently in a 14-day isolation.
The side are set to be without a minimum of EIGHT players for Saturday’s trip to Kilmarnock when injured players are added to the list – and concerned Maitland admits the number could rise.
The club chief confirmed New Douglas Park was shut down for deep cleaning on Tuesday and Wednesday with players set to return for further tests ahead of training today.
Maitland concedes they may be forced to dig into their pool of academy players to field a team at Rugby Park if they lose any more stars.
He told the Advertiser: “With the test on Monday proving to be positive we have closed the place down yesterday and today for a deep clean from top to bottom.
“The players are back in tomorrow for a test and we will see where we are from there. Obviously, there is a possibility that there will be more positive tests on the back of that and we will just have to see how that goes.
“Four is a lot, and on top of the four that are going to be out injured that is a lot. Just now I would say that’s not going to be too different from some other clubs; Rangers, St Mirren or any other club.
“If we have another two or three on top of that it becomes harder to field a competitive team.
“We went into this with our eyes wide open, we understood the implications of starting the season and the possibility of a second spike.
“For our sake and football’s sake we just need to deal with it the best we can.
“We are a bit more fortunate than some other clubs because we have a fantastic group of young kids breaking through, and that gives us a chance to blood some of those kids.”
Maitland expects the coronavirus crisis impacting Scottish football squads to be a regular occurrence this season, due to the current rise in cases nationally.
“There is a pandemic,” he added. “This week it’s us, last week it was St Mirren, I dare say next week and the following month it will be someone else.
“We have to do everything we can to minimize it the best we can and accept there will be situations where, with players working together, you will have some positive tests.
“I’m confident with how we as a club are handling the situation.”