Caley Thistle manager John Robertson feels lower league clubs are in a catch-22 position over Covid-19 testing.
Top-flight clubs are reportedly spending around £1,500 per game on testing, which the Inverness boss accepts would not be financially viable for most clubs outwith the Scottish Premiership.
Lower league clubs will have to test their players ahead of any Betfred Cup match next month against a team that is also carrying out regular testing.
But, at present, there will be no requirement for clubs from outside the top flight to keep testing players when the 2020-21 season kicks off for the bottom three tiers of the SPFL on October 17.
In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Robertson said: “I think testing kills the season. It is far too expensive for clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two.
“But, by not testing, I worry about health. I genuinely do.
“My main concern is that if we are all not testing, how do you know if someone has Covid-19? If you are not testing at Championship level down, how are you possibly to know if a player has it and it spreads?
“This is not having a go at part-time teams.
“Players are still catching it despite being tested at Premiership level.
“But part-time players are exposed to their working day, maybe the general public, so how do we police that?”
Robertson is also worried about some of the implications for clubs when travelling to away games.
He added: “We’re also hearing not all Championship clubs can provide showers for away games. Really? Are we supposed to travel to Ayr, when it’s pouring with rain in December, towel ourselves dry then get on a bus for four hours? Because that is a health hazard waiting to happen.
“The other thing is that the Premiership can lose two or three players through isolation and still put out a team. We’d struggle.”
