Rangers’ Scottish Cup fourth round visit to Dumbarton will be subject to a pitch inspection this afternoon, the SFA have confirmed.
The Gers are set to travel to the League Two side’s Dumbarton Football Stadium with adverse weather conditions affecting the quality of the park.
Scottish football authorities have now confirmed that the pitch will be subject to an inspection at 1pm after which the refereeing team will confirm if the surface is deemed playable or not.
Rangers have also moved to confirm to supporters that a pitch inspection will be taking place, claiming the outcome of the situation will be communicated to fans travelling to Dumbarton ASAP.
Philippe Clement laments Dumbarton pitch
Rangers manager Philippe Clement was asked about the state of the Dumbarton pitch in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Scottish Cup clash.
Branding the surface “really bad” the soundbites have added to the nerves around the game potentially not going ahead at the Rock.
“The pitch is really bad, it’s really bad,” said Clement. “It is what it is.
“I’ve said it before also. One game, I don’t want excuses from my players. If we need to play, I said it that moment also, in the parking, the we’re going to do that.
“Is it a good way for football to have those circumstances? Maybe not, but we are not the one who are deciding the rules.
“So we are playing the game and we do our best in everything to make it as good as possible. With a bad pitch, will the quality go down in the football? Yes.
“Like we’ve seen the difference between Hertha and Copenhagen was also because of the pitch a big difference in quality of football, so we need to adapt to that and adapt what we need to do.”
Scottish Cup delay could lead to double Rangers suspension
Should the game be called off it will come as a bitter disappointment to Rangers for a number of reasons.
Firstly, the Ibrox club are all set to return from the winter break and ease themselves back into competitive action against lower league opposition.
Speaking ahead of the game, Clement claimed his side were “hungry” for the second part of the campaign.
Secondly, the match would need to be rescheduled amid a hectic run of games and before the next round of the Scottish Cup, with the fifth round scheduled for the weekend of February 10th.
Thirdly, with Rangers also set to play one of their games in hand in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday evening against Hibs, suspensions could be carried over into league duties.
Leon Balogun is serving a one-match suspension for being sent off against Celtic in the Scottish Premiership before the break.
With Connor Goldson also set to serve a one-match Scottish Premiership suspension after picking up a sixth yellow card of the season in the Old Firm defeat, Rangers could be without both first-choice centre-backs in their squad for the visit of the Hibees in midweek.
That’s if the Scottish Premiership match isn’t rearranged to allow this clash with Dumbarton to be played.
