Bohemians face a possible second round meeting with Scottish Premier Division side Aberdeen when the UEFA Cup preliminary round draw is made today.

Aberdeen have been seeded to play against either Bohemians, FK Metalurgs Liepaja (Latvia), FK Zalgiris Vilnius (Lithuania) or GI Gotu (Faroe Islands). Twenty teams from Europe will compete in the first qualifying round over two legs on July 12th and 19th.

Celtic must face IA Akranes (Iceland), FK Ventspils (Latvia), Jeunesse D'Esch (Luxembourg) or Welsh club Bangor City. Hearts will face either IBV Vestmannaeyjar (Iceland), FC Flora (Estonia), Coleraine (Northern Ireland) or B36 Torshavn (Faroe Islands) in their opening round.

Rangers have been seeded in the second round of the Champions League which has left them avoiding European luminaries such as Anderlecht, Brondby and Hajduk Split in the second qualifying round, staged over two legs on July 26th and August 2nd.

The Scottish Premier League have scrapped the traditional New Year Old Firm derby.

The clash between Celtic and Rangers has become a firm favourite for supporters from both clubs and is usually played during the first few days of January.

But SPL officials have moved the tie to February in a bid to accommodate their new-look league which will now consist of 12 teams and be split into two sections for the last five games of the season.

The move is likely to anger fans who have become used to having the fixture played during the holiday period.

"I informed both Celtic and Rangers of the situation, regarding the New Year fixture and I think they, like perhaps a lot of others, would prefer to see it on New Year's Day," said SPL secretary Iain Blair.