Czech assistant says absent boss will not dial down involvement in Scotland game

Czech Republic assistant Jiri Chytry insists coronavirus-hit boss Jaroslav Silhavy has no plans to dial down his involvement in Wednesday’s clash with Scotland.

Silhavy will be absent from the touchline again as his team line up against Steve Clarke’s side, having tested positive for Covid-19.

But Chytry revealed the former Slavia Prague boss will have a hotline connecting him to the Hampden dugout, with Silhavy waiting by the phone ready to offer advice if it is required during their Nations League clash.

Silhavy’s right-hand man said: “We will be in touch with the manager but we haven’t decided whether he will be online or giving us instructions as the game goes on.

“We might have a member of the team allocated to speak to him and if a strong message is needed to be passed along to me, they will do that.”

Silhavy also sat out last month’s 2-1 defeat to the Scots in Olomouc after a coronavirus outbreak forced the entire Czech squad into quarantine. The hosts tried to call the game off but were ordered to scramble together a whole new team at just 48 hours’ notice by UEFA.

And those Covid-19 woes have returned ahead of their trip to Glasgow, with both Silhavy and an unnamed player testing positive and a raft of other squad members forced to self-isolate following contacts with confirmed cases.

But the Czechs still have Burnley hitman Matej Vydra, who scored the winner against Israel last week, available as well as the West Ham pair Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek.

And number two Chytry said: “Jaroslav and I had a plan and we prepared the team before this happened. Now it is about making small tweaks and I will speak to the manager hopefully during the game.

“Although the main coach is missing we don’t believe it will affect the players. We will have to wait and see.

“We prepared the players so there should be no disruptions. We believe although the Czech Republic have been impacted by Covid, so have other countries including Scotland.

“We don’t think about it as revenge, the game we lost last month was unfortunate but we won’t look back.

“The Scottish team is strong and we want to bring home the three points.

“We have 23 players to manage and we have to keep the players positive. We hope the players will come together as one and they will show their best in this match.”

Czech skipper Vladimir Darida believes his team will be in safe hands with Chytry on the sidelines.

The Hertha Berlin midfielder said: “It is a shame the boss can’t be at the match, we will do our best to play our best game.

“We haven’t been in touch with the coach yet but the assistant will be before the match.

“We do strongly believe the assistant can do as good a job as the manager and there will be no negative feedback from us about him.”