BOSS SYMPATHISES RIVALS OVER COVID

before the punishment was overturned on appeal. Goodwin stressed the health of all those affected must come first — and expects Davidson to still name a strong line-up. ‘Of course we have great sympathy for them,’ said the St Mirren boss. ‘We hope the players involved are well first and foremost, that they’re asymptomatic, and we hope none of their families have been affected. ‘Football needs to take a back seat at times like this. ‘Nobody needs to tell me what it’s like. I don’t think there’s anyone more affected by Covid this season than us. ‘In September and October, we were travelling to games with 13 fit players, two keepers on the bench at times. ‘We played Hibs in Paisley and three hours before kick-off we didn’t know if we had a keeper available or not. We were still being told to go and play the game. ‘It’s a hard time for St Johnstone, no doubt their training schedule will have been disrupted. ‘But, listen, they’re probably grateful they’ve had two positive cases and only had two close contacts. They’ve come off pretty well considering it could have wiped out another eight or nine players. Whoever is out, Callum has very good replacements and they’ve shown that already. ‘They made a lot of changes for the Hibs game recently at Easter Road and won comfortably.’ Zander Clark, the Perth No 1 and hero in the quarter-final win over Rangers, sat out last weekend’s win over Hibs with a toe injury as Elliott Parish posted a clean sheet in a 1-0 win. Czech stopper Zlamal has penned a seven-day deal and goes straight into the squad for Hampden. Buddies striker Eamonn Brophy has recovered earlier than expect from a broken bone in his foot and is also available.