We did not risk our kids
Scotland Under-21 boss Scot Gemmill has defended the protocols for his players after they were slaughtered by club bosses following a Covid outbreak in their last game.
The young Scots travelled to Athens in November and positive tests among two of Gemmill ’s background staff led to three players later testing positive for Covid – Celtic’s David Turnbull, Ross McCrorie from Aberdeen and brother Robby of Livingston - while eight others had to selfisolate and miss games.
That led to Celtic boss Neil Lennon branding the trip an ‘absolute shambles’ with Aberdeen’s Derek McInnes and former Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson seething that they had lost key players.
Gemmill is confident about future trips and he said: “I took great comfort in knowing that everything
was done correctly. We worked with the very best staff who were so diligent.
“I understand it was a very difficult situation for the clubs when players didn’t return available to play, I empathise with that.
“But at the same time, going forward I take real confidence from knowing everything was done correctly and will be in the future until this situation hopefully passes.”
Gemmi ll insists the players will all learn from their disappointment of falling at the last hurdle in their previous campaign.
He said: “With the strength of performances over the last campaign, there was a consistency about it and real progress.
“It was a fantastic experience for our best young players. They really maximised an opportunity that we gave them.
“When you get into that position and realise how well they’d done and how close they were to qualifying, it was a huge disappointment not to get to the finals.”