Rangers have announced the club’s Scottish Premiership clash with Ross County has been postponed due to “adverse weather conditions”.
Whilst the pitch at Ibrox Stadium has been deemed playable, Ross County have been unable to reach Glasgow to play the game due to snow on the A9.
A mixture of snow, heavy rain and strong winds have forced sections of the road to close meaning that the Staggies cannot make the match, which was due to kick off at 7:45pm this evening (28/12).
It means the Scottish Premiership match will now be rescheduled for a later date although at the moment it is not exactly clear when this will be.
What Rangers and Ross County have said
In a brief statement on the official Rangers website, the Ibrox club have moved to confirm that the match with Ross County is not able to go ahead. It reads:
“Rangers can confirm this evening’s Scottish Premiership fixture with Ross County has been postponed.
“Despite the Ibrox playing surface being in good condition and ready to host the match, adverse weather conditions on the A9 means our visitors have been unable to reach Glasgow.
“A new date for the fixture will be confirmed in due course.”
Ross County – who also seen their Boxing Day fixture with Hibernian in Dingwall postponed due to a waterlogged pitch – claim the decision was made in consultation with Police Scotland.
“Following consultation with Police Scotland regarding today’s weather conditions on the A9, this evening’s match against Rangers has been postponed.”
When will be Scottish Premiership fixture be rescheduled?
At this early stage it remains unclear from both Rangers and Ross County when the Scottish Premiership fixture will be rescheduled.
Given there are two games between now and the winter break, it is incredibly unlikely this will be before the Premiership breaks for three weeks on 2nd of January.
Rangers return to domestic duties for the Scottish Cup trip to Dumbarton on January 20th before Premiership matches against Hibs (24/01) – coincidentally a game in hand carried over from the victorious League Cup campaign – and St Mirren (27/01).
There is a free midweek between this clash and the trip to Livingston (03/02) as well as between a potential Scottish Cup fifth round clash on the weekend of the 10th February and a visit to St Johnstone on the 17th.
Similarly, Rangers face Hearts a week later (24/02) without any midweek clash preventing the match being rescheduled here.
This comes after Rangers finished top of their Europa League group, meaning the club avoided a playoff against a Champions League drop-out, with those ties scheduled for 15th and 22nd of February.
One suspects that when the match is eventually rescheduled, it will be on any of the following weeks:
Week beginning 29th January
Week beginning 12th February
Week beginning 19th February
Ibrox fixture postponement a double-edged sword
Rangers fans who’d looked our their blue scarves for the trip to Ibrox will be disappointed to be missing the game but the Ross County fixture postponement isn’t all doom and gloom, even if the weather is.
The Gers are in the midst of a crippling injury crisis with a frustrated Philippe Clement pointing to the potential absences of 10 first-teamers amid a hectic schedule.
The club’s players grabbing a breather will be welcomed at Ibrox whilst the chance to have extra time to prepare ahead of the trip to Celtic Park is also a clear bonus.
However, the Gers’ chance to go top of the Scottish Premiership at Parkhead has now fell by the wayside with the Premiership gap at five points and Rangers boasting two games in hand.
Celtic too, although their fans might moan about the extra rest at Ibrox, now also have the incentive of going eight points clear before the Bells.
