(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin has confessed that he felt his side should have refused to play Celtic in midweek as Covid ravaged his squad – and admits he was ready for another legal fight with the SPFL over it.
The Buddies had to take the “legal route” after being Motherwell were handed three points over a postponed fixture, forcing the league to backtrack, and Goodwin was prepared to go down that path again if there had been sanctions imposed had the Buddies refused to play.
Goodwin confirmed his “recommendation” to the St Mirren board was to refuse to play Celtic as he prepares to take his side to Ibrox this afternoon to face Rangers.
“It was my recommendation to the board that we should have refused to play,” Goodwin said. “But I think the ramifications and sanctions that might have been brought against us would have made it difficult.
“It was the same last year when they tried to take points off us for the postponed Motherwell and Hamilton games. We won that battle, but we had to go down the legal route. I thought we could have done the same.
“The welfare of the players always needs to be paramount. We don’t know what will happen next, we will do lateral flow tests and the boys’ incubation period isn’t over until Friday.
“We could still have a number of positive cases being carried around asymptomatically. I thought it was a hell of a risk to take, not just for our own players but for the Celtic players as well.”
Obviously, things didn’t go as badly for St Mirren as they could have, picking up a 0-0 draw against Ange Postecoglou’s side but they’ll head to Ibrox this afternoon still missing a number of players.
Whether St Mirren would have won another legal fight against the SPFL is anyone’s guess but it’s hard to disagree with Goodwin’s view that his side should have refused to take to the field.
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