FALKIRK may have to set up a dugout exclusion zone around manager Ray McKinnon this weekend as he recovers from a contagious eye infection.
The Bairns boss has been affected by conjunctivitis since the start of the month and has had to take time off from the club as he tries to shake it off.
With McKinnon having been able to attend training earlier this week, assistant Darren Taylor insists the ailment has not hampered preparations for Saturday’s meeting with former club Dundee United.
But the 48-year-old is again expected to have to keep his distance from his squad and backroom staff before, during and after the game.
The condition prevented McKinnon from being in the dressing room and taking the team-talk for the recent 2-1 win over Alloa Athletic, although he did make an appearance on the periphery of the technical area.
And Taylor has revealed it could be a similar set-up for the visit of United.
He said: “Ray took a couple of days off last week but the fact there wasn't a game at the weekend meant he was able to use that time away to recover a bit.
“He was highly contagious for a while and he is better staying away but the situation has had no impact at all. He was here in spirit and we communicated regularly.
“He is back at the club and was at training on Monday and Tuesday, and everything is planned as normal. He seems to have broken the back of the infection but we want to be safe rather than sorry.
“I'm sure he will be in the dugout on Saturday. There is no reason for him not to be in the dugout and again, like Alloa, it is a fair-sized dugout.
“So he can be there but still keep a distance if need be. Five metres was a [recommended] 'zone’, so we’ve got five metres there.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here