Dundee do not believe tomorrow’s fixture with Cove Rangers will go ahead due to the freezing conditions and state of the Dens Park pitch.
The Dark Blues had originally pencilled in a pitch inspection for Saturday morning but had requested an earlier one from the SPFL, which has been denied.
Much of the north has been blanketed by wintry conditions for the last week and postponements are expected across the board.
Dundee stated that the pitch, in its current state, would put “players’ safety at risk” and that some stands would have to be closed if the game went ahead due to frozen pipes.
A club statement read: “Despite our undersoil heating being on since Monday, the freezing conditions and last night’s heavy snowfall have meant that the pitch is now in a state that would put players’ safety at risk.
“Furthermore, the decision has already had to be made by the club that due to frozen pipes some stands would have to remain closed for tomorrow’s fixture if it went ahead.
Due to the substantial change in weather conditions this week and the freezing temperatures affecting the pitch and surrounding area, we have today requested a pitch inspection ahead of tomorrow’s match and await a response from the SPFL #thedee pic.twitter.com/an4LK1eb6y
— Dundee Football Club (@DundeeFC) December 16, 2022
“Our experienced ground staff have been hard at work this week but unfortunately, the unprecedented cold weather has meant that the surrounding areas inside and outside the stadium are also dangerous.
“We, therefore, requested an early pitch inspection to give supporters as much notice as possible as it’s our belief that this fixture will not go ahead. However, regrettably, the SPFL has decided to delay an inspection until tomorrow morning so we cannot give spectators as early a decision as we would have wished.
“We shall confirm the position with this fixture tomorrow morning.”
The two sides met in October at the Balmoral Stadium, with Cove coming out on top 3-1.
Should the game go ahead, Cove will be without defenders Shay Logan and Kyle McClelland.
Former Aberdeen defender Logan picked up a calf problem in the 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle a fortnight ago, while McClelland has been out since the previous meeting with Dundee.
“Shay’s calf has not recovered and he’s had a scan on it,” said manager Jim McIntyre. “He’s had an ongoing issue for a while and it’s come to a head.
“We’ll just wait and see what progresses but I imagine it will be a couple of weeks at least.”
On-loan defender McClelland has been completing his rehabilitation with parent club Hibernian and will rejoin Cove training next week.