Rangers ‘angered’ over Premiership postponement as they point finger at Dundee

Rangers have pointed the finger at Dundee over the postponement of today’s Premiership clash at Dens Park.

The two sides were due to kick off at noon but referee Don Robertson postponed the game following a 10.15am pitch inspection.

That was the second inspection of the day after local official Craig Fordyce suggested more time be given to allow groundstaff at Dens Park to work on the surface.

However, that work was in vain with the match postponed for a later date.

It is the fourth match postponed at Dens Park this season, joining Ross County, Aberdeen and St Johnstone contests falling foul of the weather.

And, in a statement, Rangers said they are “angered” at the late communication of any issues with the pitch.

The statement read: “Rangers FC, on behalf of our supporters, are extremely disappointed and angered with the late call-off of today’s match with Dundee FC.

“The first-team have prepared as normal for the match, and it was not until this morning that any concerns over the playing surface were raised.

“It is not understood why the home club did not raise those concerns in a more timely manner, given the reoccurring issues they have had with their playing surface at earlier points in the season.

“The Rangers team and thousands of our supporters had already arrived at the stadium by the time a decision was reached.

“This is the only match in the entire UK senior leagues to be postponed this weekend, and given it was to be shown on Sky Sports nationwide, reflects poorly on our game.”

Ibrox manager Philippe Clement echoed that sentiment, telling BBC Scotland: “I think it’s a really bad advertisement for the league.

“Our kit man had to discover there was a problem because he arrived early. That’s already a strange situation.”

Dundee asked for delay

Dundee managing director John Nelms told Sky Sports: “We’re supposed to be one of the most robust leagues in the world, the ball is rolling, we’ve had guys out here since 5am.

“Mother Nature’s done what she’s done, we’ve done everything we could to get this pitch in the right place.

“There are two small spots where the ball isn’t bouncing, as we speak.

“The rest of the pitch is fine, they said they don’t think we’ll be able to get it playable before 12pm, so that’s where we’re at.”

He later added: “We’ve got as many forks into the ground as we can and we just ran out of time.

“If we had a 3pm match, it’d probably be playable.

“I asked the league official to ask the league for a delay to see what we could do and they said, ‘The league said no, we’re going with the referee’s decision.’”