STEVE CLARKE has warned his Scotland players that Covid-19 is still a real threat ahead of the European Championships as he allowed them to return home for a short break with their families.

The national team manager says that John Fleck testing positive for Coronavirus while at the Scotland training camp in Spain should serve as a reminder of how fragile the situation still is.

There has also been huge disruption to Spain's preparations for the championships after their whole squad was placed into isolation following a positive test for Sergio Busquets, forcing them to pull out of their final warm-up match against Lithuania, which was scheduled for tonight..

Subsequently, Clarke doesn’t expect to see any of his players out on the town before the squad reconvene in Middlesbrough for the tournament proper.

“It’s a bit of respite for the players now,” said Clarke.

“I think it’s important for a couple of days to let them go home and relax. It’s just a break they need because it has been an intense period.

“With the covid situation it’s better to let them go to their families rather than try to get the families to come to the team hotel or whatever

“I think it’s a good idea and we will reconvene on Wednesday night at our hotel at Rockcliffe and take it from there.

“It’s safe for them to go home and spend time with their families. We don’t expect to see any of them going out and about.

“We had six out of the Netherlands game last week so they know how close covid still is.

“Since the start when we brought football back we have preserved the security around the covid bubble.

“What happened last week as just an early reminder that the covid was there.

“It’s not going to go away this year, I don’t think it will go away next year either.

“We have to learn to live with it.”