Nir Bitton has admitted that if it was up to him he’d cancel the November international programme.
The Israeli reported for international duty at his adopted home city last month but after 120 minutes of action at Hampden he literally found himself floored after returning a positive test for the virus.
Bitton was seriously weakened, he lost his sense of taste and smell while his international team-mats flew to Israel to face the Czech Republic. A similar fate befell Hatem Abd Elhamed who had to self-isolate in Israel with his family in Glasgow.
For good measure the depleted Israeli squad flew on to Slovakia to complete three matches in three cities over seven days.
In 10 days time Bitton and Elhamed will face the Czech Republic in Prague followed three days later with a home match against Scotland with Bitton making his feelings known to the Daily Record:
If it was my decision, I would cancel it but it’s not my decision. There is nothing I can do about it. Since I came back to Celtic in June we have been in a bubble. We are not allowed to go to restaurants. We are not allowed to have people in the house.
We are in a small circle for four or five months already. Then you go to the national team and you are mixed up with a lot of players from different countries. You don’t know where they have been.
It’s just all over the place. You need to be lucky to not get it. It’s almost impossible to control this virus when you go away with your national team and are mixed up with a lot of players from different countries and different bubbles.”
Despite the many positive cases thrown up at the last international break, including Cristiano Ronaldo, UEFA haven’t made any changes to the November schedule with the Scotland players checking into hotels in Serbia, Israel and Slovakia within seven days.