Rangers withdraw request to SPFL to postpone St Mirren match
The SPFL had stated that the Ibrox club was going to utilise a new rule allowing them to put back a league game to help them in their quest to reach the League Phase of the Champions League, assuming they progress after their match against Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday.
With a 3-0 lead from the first leg, Rangers are heavy favourites to go through and will then just have one tie to negotiate to reach the prestigious and lucrative competition proper.
However, they have reversed their position on the St Mirren game that falls between the two legs of the potential play-off and will travel to Paisley for the televised game on Sunday, August 24.
A statement from the SPFL read: 'Following further discussions with Rangers, St Mirren, and relevant stakeholders, we can confirm that Rangers have withdrawn their request to postpone their William Hill Premiership Round 3 match against St Mirren if they reach the play-off round of the Champions League.
'The match will now take place as originally planned on Sunday August 24, kick-off 12 noon, with the game to be shown live on Sky Sports.'
The decision means that defender Nasser Djiga will be suspended for the St Mirren game following his sending off against Dundee last weekend. Had the game been postponed, he would have served his ban in the game against Celtic at Ibrox.
Speaking at his pre-match media conference in the Czech Republic on Monday, before the reversal was announced, Rangers head coach Russell Martin said that the decision would not be affected by the league situation. Draws in the first two Premiership games for the Ibrox side, along with two wins for Celtic, opened up the possibility that a win for Celtic in the derby could potentially have put them ten points ahead in the table before the end of August.
'I think we were told that the option would be there,' Martin said. 'I think the plan has always been to play the game, unless…
'Depending on what happened on the Tuesday night, if we get through this and all that stuff. So it's been flexible.
'The league table, this early on, will not dictate what we do with the game, honestly.
'Someone mentioned to me this morning, this can happen, this permutation and all this stuff. That's just not something to get caught up in.
'So at the minute, I expect we'll play it. And if that changes, because for whatever reason we feel it will help us….
'We have to win this game first as well.'
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