St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin will try to mastermind victory over Celtic from his house after testing positive for Covid-19.
The Buddies manager will watch Saturday’s cinch Premiership game against the rejuvenated Hoops at Parkhead on television and relay instructions via telephone to assistant Lee Sharp and goalkeeping coach Jamie Langfield who will take charge of first-team duties until the Irishman returns.
Sharp said: “Jim is okay, I have spoken to him pretty much non-stop the last couple of days.
“He wasn’t feeling great on Tuesday night, he was fine during the day and then had couple of tests but he is okay at the moment other than a bit of a cough. I think he is more frustrated than anything else.
“On Tuesday we did a lot of preparation for tomorrow’s game. There was no close contacts at all.
“No doubt he will be on the phone to someone and he will communicate through watching the game and maybe see bits that we don’t see. It will be fine in terms of that.
“Last season was similar when he was suspended (from touchline) for a couple of games and it worked so it will be similar even though he will not actually be in the stadium.
“He will be instructing us what to do at times. He has every confidence in the coaching staff that is here and if we see something we will act on it and he has the added advantage of watching it on the TV, maybe be able to rewind and pause things and look at it at a different angle from us and maybe see something that we don’t see.”
Sharp is aware that Ange Postecoglou’s free-flowing Celtic side have won five in a row.
He said: “It could have been anywhere and it would have probably been just as tough.
“Unfortunately it is Celtic Park and against a team that is bang in form at the moment, playing really good football.
“We are under no illusions about the enormity of the task ahead but we go there as prepared as we always are and we will go with our game plan and we will see what happens.
“I would rather the manager was there. It is not the ideal situation but you just have to get on with it.”
