McKenna has faith in safety protocols
SCOTLAND defender Scott McKenna has stressed that he and his team-mates feel safe and comfortable travelling to fulfil tomorrow’s Nations League fixture against Czech Republic.
A Covid-19 outbreak in the Czech squad forced two players and an official to isolate and miss their 3-1 win in Slovakia on Friday.
And following that tie, the Czechs announced their squad was being disbanded, plunging the Scotland game into doubt.
However, the fixture will go ahead with the home team using a new group of players who will only take part after compliance with UEFA’s strict rules.
The SFA’s chief medical consultant, Dr John MacLean, received written assurances from UEFA that the Czechs will comply with Covid-19 testing protocols.
Chief executive Ian Maxwell admitted that ‘concerned’ clubs had been in touch with the SFA about their players going away in
light of developments. However, manager Steve Clarke insisted that no clubs had demanded their players be released from duty.
‘The doctors and medical staff have been brilliant, so all the players feel safe,’ said Aberdeen centre-half McKenna.
‘You have to trust in the processes they have in place. All the UEFA protocols are in place — they are strict at the best of times.
‘So if they are happy for the game to go ahead, then I am — and I’m sure all my team-mates feel the same.
‘We are in the bubble so that means if someone gets it then games don’t have to go off.
‘My club have said nothing at all. I haven’t heard from them but when we come back we are exempt and everyone is happy with it because we can carry on.’
Dr MacLean explained that the SFA had ‘gone further than UEFA had asked’ in order to ensure the wellbeing of its staff and the nation’s players during the international break.
‘We’ve had a tight bubble with players and staff, everyone has been tested four times over the last 10 days, including this morning,’ he told BBC Scotland yesterday.
‘We will take two buses to the airport for our charter flight, then it’s a tarmac transfer to our hotel, with no hotel staff mixing with our group and our own chef preparing all of the food, while we won’t train at the stadium over there.
‘The only contact our party will have with anyone will be with the players on the pitch.
‘We take comfort from the Czech Republic providing a new team. That takes away some of the questions, like why were only two players asked to isolate?
‘Were they the only ones to have close contact with the official who tested positive?
‘No matter how much we socially distance here, it would be difficult to justify that.
‘We were very concerned to learn the Czech players had been dispersed.
‘Would they be going home to their families and coming back? We had asked UEFA before this news, if they could assure us that any new players joining the squad would be tested.’
Maxwell added: ‘Czech Republic have confirmed they will be able to fulfil their obligations to the match and, more importantly, to the stringent Covid-19 testing regime that is sacrosanct to ensure the safety of our players and staff.
‘While we empathise with all national associations during this period of global uncertainty, nonetheless we required and received absolute assurance that we will be entering a safe and secure environment having worked diligently in Scotland to maintain safety and adherence to UEFA’s Covid-19 protocols.’
McKenna, meanwhile, remains confident that he can play a key role in a three-man defence for Scotland despite lamenting the ‘sloppy’ goal which helped Israel claim a point from Hampden.
A sweet strike from Eran Zahavi on 73 minutes cancelled out Ryan Christie’s penalty. But McKenna (below) was otherwise content with how the back line operated with Scott McTominay and Kieran Tierney by his side.
‘I think we can make the shape work because either side of me were two boys very comfortable on the ball,’ said McKenna.
‘They have the ability to step forward and get us up the pitch. We didn’t do that as much but when you have players like Callum McGregor and Ryan Jack in front of us, we can get it working.
‘We had three days to work on it, we did a lot of shape work and analysis — so we knew what we were doing.
‘The lack of time on the pitch means it can be difficult working on a new shape, but the more times we meet up and the more minutes we get it will start to come to fruition.’ Old foes Israel, who were in Scotland’s Nations League group in 2018, are back at Hampden for the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final on October 8. ‘We’ve got another game and the chance to work on things, so we’ll be even more confident when that comes around,’ added McKenna.