Clarke positive Scots can cope without Gilmour
STEVE CLARKE admitted he will have to tighten Scotland’s Covid protocols after the shock of Billy Gilmour’s positive test.
The Chelsea star has been ruled out of the Scots’ must-win game against Croatia tonight.
Clarke was woken at 6.50am yesterday to be given the news, with implications that have spread to the England camp, with Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell also forced to isolate, having been seen interacting with Gilmour.
The rest of the Scotland squad will play on, despite sharing a dressing room and travelling with the 20-year-old midfielder. Head coach Clarke said: “I’m upset for Billy.We had to have a very difficult conversation with him when the test came back positive.
“As you’d expect, he’s very upset. It was obviously a shock to the lad.This is a big game so let’s not lose focus on where we are, including the point we got atWembley the other night.
“What we have to do now is make sure Billy’s good performance against England doesn’t go to waste. He would have started the game, but now it is a chance for someone else to be a national hero.”
Asked how Gilmour caught Covid, Clarke said: “We have no idea and there’s no way in the world that I can get involved in any speculation.”
Clarke said it wasn’t “his department”, when asked about issues including other Scotland players being close contacts and at risk but added: “Hopefully we need to tighten them up for the next week because that means we’re still involved in the tournament.”