Dundee are guaranteed a top six finish in the Scottish Premiership this season – no matter what happens against Rangers on Wednesday evening.
Rangers will hope to play their rearranged fixture against the Dee when they, barring any late changes, travel to Dens Park midweek.
With the match already being called off twice, Rangers were left incensed by Dundee’s handling of the entire fiasco whilst there remains no guarantee the game is going ahead as planned.
A call on the surface is set for Tuesday afternoon, with alternative venues being readied as a back-up, but it’s not just in slowing down the split that this game is causing issues.
Now, without the pressure of decisively playing at the same time as each other this weekend, Dundee’s 0-0 draw with Aberdeen and Hibs’ 1-1 draw with Motherwell has guaranteed the Dens Park side a top six finish.
Hibs furious at Dundee v Rangers “advantage”
The situation brings into sharp focus reports of Hibs’ unhappiness over the second Dundee v Rangers call-off.
The Scottish Premiership side had brought into question the sporting integrity of completing their pre-split fixtures before Dundee, with the Dens Park side heading into Wednesday knowing what result they’d need to finish in the top half.
With the financial impact of a top six finish sizeable in Scottish footballing terms, it is certainly not an insignificant achievement and the Hibees certainly have cause for their frustrations.
Hibs manager Nick Montgomery claims the situation handed Dundee an “advantage” heading into the weekend’s fixtures.
“It’s given them (Dundee) the obvious advantage of not having a midweek game!” Montgomery said ahead of Hibs’ last minute heartbreak v Motherwell. “I think everyone else has had them – we went to Ross County in midweek; a lot of teams have had to travel and play games.
“It’s the advantage of not playing in midweek on a heavy pitch. I think it’s pretty obvious really!
“There could be a lot of different consequences, but I think rules need to be put in place at the start of the season so there’s no doubt – if this happens, these are the consequences. While there’s no consequence, it can be an advantage or disadvantage.
“But perhaps it’s something the league can learn from so that in future there’s a real clarity around the consequences if situations like this crop up, because it’s definitely taken the integrity of the competition into question and probably created a lot of noise around a big week for a lot of clubs.
“You want people focusing on the positive things around the league and not on cancelled games in April.”
Scottish Premiership split scenario benefits Gers
Whilst from a Hibs POV the situation with Dundee v Rangers handed the Dens Park club an advantage, from an Ibrox POV the situation is a positive one.
Had Dundee gone into Wednesday evening’s game needing a point or a victory it would obviously hand them extra incentive against Rangers.
Whilst we’re sure the Dens Park side – whose leadership is more friendly with the Celtic boardroom than the Rangers one – will still put up a fight, you can’t help but feel it’s beneficial that Rangers won’t be playing a highly motivated opponent in this way.
No matter what happens however, Rangers will have another game against Dundee to come this season beyond this long-awaited clash on Wednesday evening.
