Dundee vs Rangers: St Johnstone's McDiarmid Park will host match if Dens Park not playable

Dundee's rearranged Scottish Premiership match against Rangers will be moved to St Johnstone's McDiarmid Park if Dens Park is not playable again.

A pitch consultancy firm has been appointed by the league's governing body the SPFL to check on the condition of the surface - with match referee Don Robertson also carrying out a pitch inspection on Tuesday.

It is the third time the two teams will aim to play the fixture - after the two previous attempts on March 17 and April 10 were both called-off hours before kick-off due to heavy rain - with the game on Wednesday live on Sky Sports.

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The SPFL have also confirmed fans of both teams will be able to attend the match, even if it is moved to Perth, with Dundee still recognised as the home team.

Dundee have had five games at their Scot Foam Stadium called off this season and could face disciplinary action from the SPFL.

Rangers will go into the game four points behind leaders Celtic after defeat at Ross County, while Dundee secured their spot in the top six with a draw at Aberdeen.

SPFL statement in full

"The SPFL has announced a series of contingency measures regarding the previously postponed Dundee v Rangers cinch Premiership match on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.

"The SPFL has appointed an experienced pitch consultancy, which is regularly used by UEFA and other sporting bodies, to report back to the league with guidance on the condition of the pitch in advance of Wednesday's match.

"Dundee were also informed on Thursday that they must provide the pitch consultants, SPFL and Rangers with daily updates on the playing surface and weather forecast, and immediately report any concerns regarding Wednesday's match being played at Dens Park.

"It has further been agreed that the match official will carry out an inspection of the playing surface on the morning of Tuesday, April 16, after which, taking weather forecasts into account, a final decision will be taken on whether to play the game at Dens Park.

"If the game cannot be played at Dens Park, the SPFL has confirmed that it will be moved to St Johnstone's McDiarmid Park on Wednesday, April 17, with Dundee making arrangements for fans of both teams to attend. If the game requires to be moved to McDiarmid Park, it will still be categorised as a Dundee FC 'home game'.

"The SPFL is grateful for the assistance of St Johnstone and will make a further announcement tomorrow."

Rangers hit out at 'negligence and unprofessionalism'

Following last week's call-off at Dens Park, Rangers said they had written to the SPFL regarding the developments and in a statement added: "The negligence and unprofessionalism demonstrated by Dundee Football Club, where they have repeatedly breached SPFL rules, continues to have a damaging effect on the top professional league in the country.

"In a week where record TV viewing figures were recorded for a match in the same competition, and this evening's game due to be televised again by Sky Sports, this episode is deeply embarrassing and has also been eminently avoidable.

"Rangers expects the SPFL to take proportionate and decisive action in accordance with its rules, and the club will continue to make representations to them in the strongest possible manner.

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"The club has been repeatedly putting forward solutions to the SPFL, which have not been taken up. It has again proposed a solution to the preparation and execution of this rescheduled fixture and is awaiting a response from the SPFL. As things stand, the rescheduled match will be on Wednesday April 17 at 8pm. The club considers that this matter has been handled incorrectly throughout by both Dundee and the SPFL.

"At this time, we sympathise fully once again with our supporters, approximately 4,000 of whom were looking forward to attending tonight's game. Having already been left hugely inconvenienced and out of pocket by the first postponement last month, it is entirely unacceptable and disrespectful on the part of Dundee FC to have allowed this situation to have developed again."

'Urgent Dens Park work needed'

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Dundee club secretary Eric Drysdale admits the club must address issues at Dens Park - with potential SPFL disciplinary action incoming - and told Sky Sports News: "I can understand people are annoyed and looking at this as being Dundee's fault.

"What I would say is from the research we have done in the last few days, we noticed this year's rainfall was 35 per cent higher than the last 10 years' average - that shows the effects climate change is having on it and we need to urgently do more work on the Dens Park pitch and we are absolutely up for doing that in the summer.

"The pitch is of a very good quality, there have been a number of occasions where our fixtures have coincided with, for example, the storms last October which was the highest rainfall ever recorded in Scotland.

"It is very clear work needs to be done to rectify the situation and we absolutely recognise the challenges we face and the club is up for doing what is needed."

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