Understandable

Caretaker boss Mick Wadsworth has defended the decision of the players who chose not to travel to Pittodrie this weekend.

With wages outstanding, administrator David Elliot gave the squad the option of playing against Aberdeen and announced that they are all free to leave the club as their contracts have been breached.

Greg Fleming, Craig Barr, Chris Innes, Aurélien Collin, Mickael Buscher and John Paul Kissock were not involved in the 3-0 defeat and uncertainty surrounds their future with the Black and Whites.

But Wadsworth showed his support for the players in question and urged people not to be critical of their judgement.

“Whatever decision any player made was equally important as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

“If one of the lads decides not to play, I fully understand because they have sound reasons not to and if they want to play, they have sound reasons to do so.”

“Gavin Skelton hasn’t slept for two nights worrying about it. He’s been a fantastic servant to the club and I’m privy to the fact that two or three clubs are interested in him and there’s a chance for him to move but he rang me yesterday and said he wanted to play.”

“I’m sure all the lads that didn’t play are in the same boat and they’ve thought twice about it but it’s a tough call so I don’t want any negativity against them. I don’t want a black mark put against their names because it’s not fair. They were given the option by the administrators and I supported their views.”

“There’s interest from other clubs and I’m sure players and agents are talking to clubs but were in abnormal circumstances. But there is a huge problem with international clearance, cancellation of registration and moving outside the transfer window so it’s not an easy situation and we need guidance.”

“I am led to believe that three parties are interested in buying the club and that will calm nerves because a lot of the players don’t want to leave. They are a great bunch and they have stuck together during a difficult time, you could see that today.”

“They are really disappointed to have lost. The big picture hasn’t even occurred to them and I think that is wonderful from their point of view.”

“They did really well for 70 minutes and I can’t give them enough credit because it has been an awful few weeks, especially the last few days which have been abnormal and bizarre to say the least.”

“We didn’t even know the team until this morning. So we had no preparation in terms of shape and I have to say the players did really well.”