Start off by telling him you can pick him up but your going on to somewhere else afterwards so cannot take him home.
That way he cant blame you for not being able to get to practice but it will see how much he wants to go.
Following on from that at the end of practice you can tell him that you have other things going on and wont be able to take him next week as your coming from a different direction. That way your giving him pleanty of notice to organise getting there.
It gets the same result without the row and people blaming you for causing the issue even though its not your fault.
Diplomatic stance mate......always worth a shot. You dont need to win the battle just the war :-)
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