Sheffield United striker finds himself at the heart of a campaign for the international break to be scrapped

Celtic, whose midfielder Ryan Christie will miss tonight’s match, are demanding urgent talks with the administration at Holyrood after the 25-year-old was ordered into quarantine alongside Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney having been deemed a close contact of Stuart Armstrong - who tested positive for the virus yesterday.

United’s Oliver Burke was also training at Oriam, Scotland’s base on the outskirts of Edinburgh, before returning to England due to injury. With two more members of Steve Clarke’s squad also withdrawing due to unspecified fitness issues, many commentators north of the border believe the situation not only illustrates the folly of guidelines introduced to try and curb the spread of the coronavirus but also the dangers of a fixture schedule which has seen some of the Britain’s leading footballers contest seven games in less than four weeks.

Christie, who must also sit out the Nations League ties against Slovakia and the Czech Republic, described himself as being “disappointed” by the instruction to isolate.

"Following today’s news regarding Ryan Christie, he has reiterated his adherence to all relevant protocols while on international duty,” a Celtic spokesperson said. “In light of this, Celtic confirmed that it aims to open dialogue with the Scottish Government and other authorities to fully understand the self-isolation procedures for those players who continue to deliver negative test results, as Ryan has."

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