Ross talking nonsense with calls for Covid-hit teams to forfeit points – Dyer

Maurice Ross has come under fire for the third time this week after Kilmarnock boss Alex Dyer accused the Motherwell assistant of talking nonsense with his calls for Covid-hit teams to forfeit points.

Killie saw their clash with Well earlier this month shelved after an outbreak of the virus forced the entire Rugby Park squad into quarantine.

Stephen Robinson’s team were hit with further coronavirus disruption last weekend as their trip to St Mirren was then called off at short notice after another batch of positive test results left the Buddies unable to raise a team.

Fir Park coach Ross responded to that late postponement during an appearance on BBC Radio Scotland last Sunday as he called for clubs who fail to fulfil a fixture because of Covid-19 to be handed an automatic 3-0 defeat.

The former Rangers defender said: “I think there needs to be a law change. If you can’t fulfil a fixture, tough – three points.”

But that did not go down well with Dyer as he became the latest opposition official to take a swipe at the Motherwell assistant.

St Mirren chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick took exception to Ross’ claims on the same SportSound show that clubs could try to use the Covid rules to postpone games during an injury crisis, while Celtic boss Neil Lennon was unhappy with his criticism of Hoops strikers Leigh Griffiths and Albian Ajeti.

Now Dyer has also hit out after being asked if he agreed with Ross’ forfeit calls, saying: “Definitely not. Come on, it doesn’t make sense.

“There are people out there who are suffering from this pandemic.

“Football is part of society, so we’re going to get it. It doesn’t look at footballers and go, ‘You’re not going to get this virus’. It’s out there.

“But games wise, there’s enough time to fit them in and as long as no one is doing anything out of order then we can fit those games in any time.

“As long as people are fit and healthy enough to come back and play, then just move on.

“People just seem to want to make headlines and there’s no need to make headlines.”

The Scottish Professional Football League have launched an investigation into the circumstances that led to Killie’s October 2 clash with Motherwell being postponed.

But Dyer is still waiting to be told when the fixture will be slotted back into the Premiership calendar.

“I don’t know when the game will be played,” he said. “It’s up to (the SPFL) to sort it out.

“We have put in the information we had to submit to the right channels and we’re just waiting now.

“What will be will be. I know we’ve done the best we could. It’s time to stop blaming. The virus is out there in the world and we just have to get on with it. I don’t have much more to say on that matter to be honest.”

Dyer’s team emerged from self-isolation to claim a 3-1 win over Livingston on Saturday and will hope to make it four straight league wins in a row when Hibernian visit Ayrshire this weekend.

“We hope to keep our momentum going,” said the Killie boss. “We’re coming up against a good side with good players and a good manager. It will be a good test for us but hopefully a good test for them as well.”