Removing Previous Button from Loop & Merge Question with Timer

I have a Loop & Merge question that is timed (participants see an single image on their screens that automatically switches to another every 8 seconds using timer).
I want them to not see a previous or a next button during this process.
I have read that the JS function below does not work in timed questions and can confirm it did stop working once I added the Timer.

Qualtrics.SurveyEngine.addOnReady(function () {
  $('NextButton').hide();
  $('PreviousButton').hide();
});

I did found a workaround where you can add the timer for auto-advance and then add a delay for the next button for a longer period (i.e. auto-advance 8 seconds; delay for next button 10 seconds) which means the participants move forward automatically without ever seeing the next button. However, this does not prevent the previous button from appearing.
How can I also prevent the previous button from showing on a looped timed question?
Thank you