COLIN SPENCE hopes there’s no more bumps in the road with regards to fans getting back into football grounds.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon dealt Scottish football a blow this afternoon by announcing that the indicative date for allowing spectators back into sports arenas had been put back until October 5, as opposed to September 14.

And Irvine Meadow co-manager Spence says football behind closed doors for any lengthy period is simply not an option.

He told the Times: “It’s a bit disappointing. The main thing for us will be once the competitive matches get underway to have some spectators in. Hopefully by October 10 supporters coming into grounds should be okay.

“This announcement should only mean that the pre-season games are all behind closed doors, so we’ll just need to take that on the chin.

“It’s definitely not viable to play behind closed doors for a sustained period of time at our level.

“Some clubs could probably manage for a very short while, but at the same time there will be many clubs who wouldn’t be able to function at all unless they came to some sort agreement with their playing staff.

“It’s such a hard subject to think as there’s a lot of complications. If there’s no income coming into these clubs, then there’s no way they can give anything back out.

“I try not to think too much about it or too far ahead – I’m taking things week by week, I don’t want to place doubts in my head.”