Steve Clarke insists there’s a world of difference between Scotland’s pre-Euro 2020 Spanish training camp and Celtic ’s Dubai debacle that sparked Covid chaos.
Six members of the Scotland squad did not travel to Portugal from their Spanish base for Wednesday night’s friendly draw against the Netherlands.
The Daily Record reports that the Hoops hierarchy were left less than impressed after the national team got off Scot free from Spanish authorities, while they were pilloried in the wake of their winter getaway to the UAE back in January.
16 players and staff had to quarantine as a result as Celtic’s Scottish Premiership title defence crumbled.
But rules in Spain meat Scotland weren’t forced to isolate to the same extent, and Clarke hit back at comparisons between the two situations.
He said: “I’m not sure it’s got anything to do with Celtic. Celtic had their own problems.
“We work the way we work. We went away for a training camp, to prepare for a major tournament. Unfortunately John must have been in contact with someone before coming away.
“Everybody tested negative to get on the plane but these things can happen with two or three days of incubation.
“It’s shown up on John’s second test, I think it was. We get tested so often my nose is red raw! But anyway, it shows up and you just have to react.
“The protocols have been good and fingers crossed we’ve got it under control. But it’s got nothing to do with the Celtic situation.
“I know the way the Scottish psyche thinks. With Celtic and Rangers then people make a connection. But this is about the Scottish national team preparing for their first major tournament in a hell of a long time.”
Clarke did admit that his preparations had been made more difficult after Josh Fleck’s positive test meant that the likes of John McGinn, Stephen O’Donnell, David Marshall, Grant Hanley, Che Adams and Nathan Patterson were unavailable in midweek.
But the Scotland boss is hopeful they will all be available - bar Fleck - for Sunday’s clash with Luxembourg.
He added: “The situation is different. When I spoke to the media on Tuesday afternoon we were still doing the risk assessment and going around everybody.
“We trained – between thunderstorms – and there were lots of things flying through my mind, I must admit, thinking about close contacts and the people who might be involved in the situation.
“But the medics were calm and they gave me good advice.
“I’d say 100 per cent we made the right decision, and I would have said that irrespective of the game, the performance and the result. It was the correct decision because we had to look beyond the Holland game.
“We’re in control of the situation as much as we could be.
“We test every day. We keep our fingers crossed and hope that we’ve managed to isolate John quick enough.”
