Soccer:The Scottish Premier League have confirmed they will leave any decisions over fixtures until later in the week following their blanket postponement last week. All six Premier League games were postponed on Wednesday afternoon last week amid snowfall across Scotland.
Most managers backed the early decision, which was made for safety reasons to prevent fans travelling in dangerous conditions. But Inverness boss Terry Butcher dissented over the postponement of his side’s home match against Dundee United, pointing out that the A9 had been in worse condition the previous weekend when his club travelled to face Celtic.
The fact that Alloa were able to stage their Second Division match against Peterhead on the artificial surface at Recreation Park, coupled with an improvement in road conditions in the west of Scotland, fuelled claims from some that the decision was too hasty.
SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster insists safety will be the overriding concern again but a similar decision is unlikely tomorrow despite a worsening of conditions on Monday with hundreds of motorists stuck in their vehicles overnight.
“At the top of our priorities we have to have supporters’ welfare,” Doncaster said. “Although the forecast is for very cold weather overnight on Tuesday and Wednesday, it is thought there will be a considerable thaw towards the end of the week so we will be reviewing that over the next 48 hours before we make any final decisions.
“We have to bear in mind that clubs want to get fixtures away.”
The weather has already disrupted action this week with all 14 midweek fixtures in the Scottish Football League and Scottish Cup postponed. And Hearts raised concerns over their SPL clash against Aberdeen after falling ice and snow pulled down sections of piping and iron gutter in the Main Stand. However, the club say they are hopeful of staging the game.