Alex Dyer says he feel it would be unfair on both his Kilmarnock teenagers and the ‘sporting integrity’ of the League Cup as Killie forfeit their upcoming match.
The Rugby Park side have been hit with COVID-19 trouble, six of their players testing positive for the virus. It resulted in Friday’s Premiership clash with Motherwell being postponed as the entire first-team head into self-isolation for two weeks.
It cast serious doubt on their upcoming League Cup fixtures against Falkirk and Dunfermline, their first test against the Bairns due to be played on October 6. It has now been called off, with Falkirk awarded a 3-0 win.
Killie boss Dyer has reacted to this news, explaining the reason for why the Ayrshire club have taken his decision: “We have a duty of care for the physical and emotional wellbeing of our young players and that’s something we take extremely seriously.
“Everyone at Kilmarnock FC takes great pride in the work carried out by the Academy staff and the boys performed exceptionally well to reach the Youth Cup final prior to the COVID shutdown.
“Blooding youngsters into the first team environment carefully and at the right time is something that I believe in but as manager, I did not feel comfortable fielding an entire team of teenagers, all of whom have no first-team experience while very few have sampled Reserve football.
“While forfeiting the match is not an easy decision to make in my opinion, it would not be right to play the game as scheduled against such experienced opposition as it could be detrimental not only to the young players themselves but also to the sporting integrity of the competition.”
A Falkirk statement reads: “This is not the manner in which Falkirk Football Club wanted to gain three points, but we accept this is the consequence of the competition rules for this season.
“We would also like to clarify that all Falkirk Football Club players and staff underwent testing on Thursday 1 October, with all producing negative results.”