Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes believes it is vital Scottish football clubs shows it can provide a safe environment for fans during the coronavirus.
The Scottish Government has moved the indicative date for fans to return to matches from Monday to October 5 following an increase in positive cases in the country in the last seven days.
The change in date is a blow to Scottish clubs hoping they could work towards letting fans back into grounds but with two test matches featuring 300 supporters going ahead tomorrow, one at Pittodrie and the other at Victoria Park in Dingwall, Dons boss McInnes believes a successful trial will show stadiums in Scotland are safe for fans.
He said: “Nobody’s perfect and our club has had our own challenges. We’ve been very stringent with loads of the testing. I think football has to put its best foot forward.
“We understand if in general the figures are still an issue then people involved in football will probably be affected by that some way down the line. In terms of trying to prevent all that, it’s important to keep doing what we’ve been doing.
“We’ve got to demonstrate that over the next coming weeks.
“If we can keep giving confidence on the professional part of it to the government, supporters, and the general public, then hopefully supporters will feel comfortable about coming to the stadium, just as they have been able to go about their own business.
“The more the schools go back, universities go back, people go back to their workplaces, then hopefully will give everyone the encouragement to get people back into stadiums.
“We’d welcome that but we understand there is a fine balance.”
The clusters in the Central Belt follow a similar outbreak in the Granite City last month and McInnes is resigned to the fact different areas are going to see spikes in the weeks and months ahead.
But he believes the Scottish Government should put its trust in clubs to accommodate fans safely.
He said: “We’ve been quite stringent with all the testing in football and a degree of confidence has been given on that side of it.
“But then you see what’s happening, in general, in certain areas of Glasgow and Renfrewshire, where I see it.
“There are still going be areas that are affected and that’s going to be ongoing.
‘It was Aberdeen a few weeks ago with a cluster. There will be different areas at different times.
“While that is still there, I can understand maybe a nervousness about giving more leeway to professional sport.
“We’re just hoping that we can deal with the game on Saturday, in terms of the off-the-pitch stuff, testing to get supporters in.
“We’re confident we can provide that, show that and do that safely. Hopefully then that encourages, in the not so distant future, starting to get bigger numbers in as par for the course.”