Rangers fans travelling to Rugby Park for the Scottish Premiership clash with Kilmarnock are being warned about the impact of Storm Ashley.
The entirety of Scotland is under an amber yellow warning due to high winds and rain with the met office claiming the storm is ‘likely’ to bring a threat of injuries and danger to life.
With Storm Ashley set to batter the West coast of Scotland, the worst of any damage is expected to take place further north in the country.
But the Scottish Premiership clash between Rangers and Kilmarnock is still likely to be affected by adverse weather conditions ahead of an early 12pm kick-off.
How will Storm Ashley impact Kilmarnock v Rangers?
Rangers fans travelling to Rugby Park to see their team take on Kilmarnock must be aware of the country-wide amber weather warning which is currently in place.
Gusts of up to 80mph are set to hit the country, with those in coastal communities set to be affected by high waves and high tides which could present a threat to life for inhabitants.
Road users in Scotland have been advised to avoid unnecessary trips, with around 4500 Rangers fans expected to make the short trip to Ayrshire.
Fans are also warned that disruptions to public transport are likely, with bus, train and ferry services set to be impacted.
There is also a risk of flooding, whilst the storm could have an adverse impact on power supplies across the country as Scotland hunkers down for the first storm of the season.
From a footballing point of view, at the time of writing the game on Kilmarnock’s synthetic Rugby Park surface is not believed to be under threat, although this could change at any moment.
Rangers must weather storm at Rugby Park
Rangers manager Philippe Clement famously said last season that his team would ‘play in the car park’ if that’s what was expected of them.
These are quotes which eventually backfired, as Rangers failed to deal with delays to Dundee’s dodgy pitch and eventually saw their title tilt capitulate at Dens Park.
Let’s see if the Belgian’s team has learned.
Rangers could come out the other side of a hectic spell of weather the victors of the weekend with Aberdeen coming back from two down to hold Celtic in Glasgow on Saturday.
A Gers victory would cut the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership to three points and take Rangers within one win of both the Dons and our Old Firm rivals.
With the wild weather not set to dampen the spirits of Rangers supporters, we do expect it to have an impact on the quality of the game.
Storm Ashley, Rangers having an opportunity to cut the gap, Kilmarnock’s dodgy pitch at 12pm on a Sunday after two weeks off; what could possibly go wrong?
