'The only Dubai regret is a positive test,' says Celtic stand-in manager Gavin Strachan after Hibs draw

Gavin Strachan refused to dwell on regrets over the club’s trip to Dubai that resulted in an under-strength side dropping two points in a 1-1 draw with Hibs.

Celtic coach Gavin Strachan cuts a frustrated during the encounter with Hibs. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

Strachan was forced to take the team for the encounter, with manager Neil Lennon and his assistant John Kennedy joining 13 players in isolating following Christopher Jullien’s positive Covid-19 test upon returning from the much-derided winter training camp in the United Arab Emirates.

He came within a whisker of marking the occasion with a victory, that outcome denied him by a 91st minute Kevin Nisbet equaliser that cancelled out an artful free-kick strike from David Turnbull.

Strachan refused to blame the outcome on the need to turn to a host of youngsters with Odsonne Edouard, Leigh Griffiths, Albian Ajeti, Patryk Klimala, Ryan Christie, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Scott Brown all unavailable - as they are likely to be for the Livingston double-header to follow. Games that hardly matter now with Rangers boasting a 21-point Premiership advantage.

He sidestepped the issues of whether what has befallen Celtic in recent days was reason to think of the Dubai jaunt as ill-advised. "There's regret that one person has caught the virus but there's not a regret in terms of the permission we got to go and the protocols that we followed, which we have done the whole season,” said Strachan, who communicated with Lennon and Kennedy by earpiece during the game. “It's regrettable that we got one positive, which we could have got at any time.

“It’s a trip that’s been done over the last few years and it has yielded very positive results, so the thinking behind it was to maintain that and try to galvanise and push in the second half of the season. From me as a coach, the work we did out there was absolutely fantastic. We had more time to work on certain elements of our game because of the good weather. The only regrettable thing is that someone has come back with a positive test.”

Strachan believes that the failure to hang on for the win was harsh on his patchwork side’s efforts. "It's a tough one to take. The players put a lot into the game. I thought we'd won it with a moment of magic but it's a frustrating time to concede and the manner of the goal is a tough one to take. When you factor in the disruption we've had over the last couple of days, I thought the performance was very good. There was a lot of energy in it. A lot of endeavour which you would expect and there were moments of good quality.”

In terms of handling a situation he could never prepare for, Strachan was philosophical. "You just go with the flow as you know what your role is and what you've got to do and you do it to the best of your ability. In any circumstances it's a privilege leading a Celtic team and something anyone with a coaching career would be very proud of. I'm just gutted we couldn't get the three points.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.