Big freeze hits to make Cup a lot less Active

ONLY half of this weekend's Active Nation Scottish Cup fourth-round ties are expected to still be on by the end of today – with more set to fall by the wayside tomorrow.

The big freeze yesterday claimed two fixtures three days before the matches were due to be played and six pitch inspections were due take place today.

Inspections were taking place today for Raith Rovers v Airdrie, Ayr Utd v Brechin, Forfar v St Johnstone, Albion Rovers v Stirling Albion, Edinburgh City v Montrose and Ross County v Inverurie Loco Works.

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None of the host clubs have undersoil heating and none of the games are expected to survive.

Hamilton are not confident of Sunday's all-Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League tie with Rangers taking place due to concerns over access roads, with an inspection planned at New Douglas Park tomorrow.

Aberdeen will also hold an inspection tomorrow ahead of Saturday's tie with Hearts.

A Pittodrie spokesman said: "At present, the pitch is fine and we're preparing for Saturday afternoon as scheduled.

"However, we'll be monitoring the situation closely over the next 48 hours and doing all we possibly can to ensure the game goes ahead with a final decision likely to be made on Friday to avoid supporters making unnecessary journeys."

Safety fears mean all ties are potential casualties but those hosted by SPL clubs could beat the weather due to undersoil heating.

That also applies to four matches held at SFL grounds: Inverness v Motherwell, Partick Th v Dundee Utd, Dunfermline v Stenhousemuir and Livingston v Dundee. Tomorrow is the likely day for inspections at these ties.

Celtic's match at Morton was the first to fall after Cappielow failed a pitch inspection early yesterday afternoon. That was followed later by Kilmarnock's all-SPL clash with Falkirk, which was postponed over safety concerns.

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The loss of the Morton v Celtic match came as no surprise after the Irn-Bru First Division club took the SFA's advice and held a pitch inspection as early as possible.

The fixture has been rescheduled for Tuesday night (kick-off 7.45pm) with another inspection planned on Monday.

But, unless there is a significant thaw, it looks set to be postponed once again until the following Monday.

Kilmarnock v Falkirk has also been rearranged for Tuesday night, with Strathclyde Police expected to make a decision as early as Sunday as to whether the game can go ahead due to concerns over access roads to the stadium.