Dundee Utd 'wouldn't put anyone at risk', says captain Ryan Edwards
- Published
Dundee United visit Rangers on Saturday, having beaten them earlier this season
Captain Ryan Edwards says Dundee United players "wouldn't dare" put anyone at risk as the club manage a Covid outbreak.
United will be without two players against Rangers on Saturday because of self isolation, head coach Thomas Courts has confirmed.
The squad had their Christmas night out in Newcastle last weekend and Courts cited "very judgemental times".
"We followed every restriction by the book," defender Edwards said.
"We've been spot on and we always have been. We know how serious it is. People's families here have been affected in very bad ways. We don't want to risk any of that.
"I've got a pregnant girlfriend who's ready to go next month. We're doing all we can. We wouldn't dare want to risk for ourselves or our team-mates or anyone in the public. We've been as cautious as we possibly can."
United do not believe Saturday's fixture is in doubt, while Livingston manager David Martindale has suggested the Scottish Premiership should bring forward its two-week winter break from January as a "circuit breaker" to counter rising Covid case numbers.
However, 28-year-old Edwards says an enforced shutdown is "the last thing we want".
Head coach Thomas Courts also defended the club's decision to approve the players' trip to Newcastle despite Public Health Scotland officials "strongly urging" people to defer Christmas parties.
"We are two years into a pandemic and what's right for one person is wrong for another," he said. "Every single decision you take within a football club right now almost has to have an element of crisis management consideration.
"We allowed them to go, but we also provided transport to minimise mingling on public transport. We knew the itinerary of the players.
"At the same token, I was at the Christmas market last weekend mingling amongst hundreds of people. I actually saw three of my players there with their wives and girlfriends.
"These cases can come from Newcastle, they can come from Edinburgh, and we also had a positive case within a staff member last week."
Courts went on to stress that the club had recently appointed Luigi Capuano as operations director, claiming he "pretty much wrote the guidelines" for Scottish football to deal with the pandemic during his previous role with the Scottish FA.
Thursday's training session until the afternoon to receive results of PCR tests., but Courts expects to take a reasonably strong squad to face Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday, although he was already missing players through injury.