SHUTDOWN IS THE RIGHT CALL Players given home fitness programmes to follow

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright highlighted there are more important things than football after the Scottish leagues were shutdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Players were on the training field on Friday when news filtered through that the SFA and SPFL had moved to suspend action across the country with immediate effect.

The Scottish football authorities joined the majority of the sporting world in adopting a shutdown in a bid to halt the spread of the virus.

Saints, who were preparing for a crunch clash with Hibernian in the capital when the decision was made, currently sit seventh in the Scottish Premiership standings.

The McDiarmid Park squad will not be training this week and the players have been informed to keep up their personal fitness at home.

It is understood no member of staff, including first-team players and management, has needed to self-isolate at this time.

In an official statement on Friday, Perth boss Wright said: “It’s extremely disappointing but there are more important things than football.

“I fully understand the decision and I think when the English Premier League and the EFL had made the decision to cut all football until April the SFA and SPFL would always follow suit.

“It’s probably the wisest decision in the circumstances and now we just have to wait and see how long the suspension of the league is going to last for.

“We’ll have to work out a programme for the players to make sure they keep their fitness levels up.

“And hopefully this will just be a short-term measure and we can get back up and running again as soon as possible.”

The lockdown arrives at a point when Saints were attempting to push into the top six having pieced together an impressive run of form since the winter break.

Earlier in the season the Perth side sat bottom of the table and