Aberdeen v Celtic postponement update as two Scottish Premiership fixtures bite dust

The Scottish Premiership match between Aberdeen and Celtic scheduled to take place at Pittodrie on Wednesday night has been postponed due to a watterlogged pitch.

It is one of two top flight fixtures to fall victim to the weather with the game between Dundee and Motherwell at Dens Park also failing a pitch inspection.

A Met Office yellow warning had been in place for the Aberdeen area with persistant rainfall posing a problem for groundstaff as they attempted to clear water from the playing surface.

As a result, a pitch inspection was arranged for 4pm with the Dons admitting one area of the park had been causing particular concern. "Prolonged rain over the last few weeks has made the pitch heavy,” the club stated. “The groundstaff have been working tirelessly to get it ready but there is an area of the surface at the Merkland end that is causing concern.”

The goalmouth at the Merkland End at Pittodrie is pictured as a the Premiership match between Aberdeen and Celtic is postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group) | SNS Group

Confirmation followed shortly afterwards that the match had been called off by one of the match officials “in the interests of player safety”.

The game had been due to kick-off at 8pm live on Sky Sports with Celtic looking to close the gap on Hearts to three points after the league leaders lost 1-0 at St Mirren the previous night.

The match between Dundee and Motherwell at Dens Park was also called off after failing an afternoon pitch inspection.

“After a thorough inspection, the decision has been made to call today's match off due to unprecedented rainfall,” read a Dundee statement. “The borderline decision was made by the match referee, and details of the rearranged fixture will be made available as soon as possible.”

Motherwell were unhappy with the delay after confirmation of the postponement came almost two hours after a 2.30pm inspection. “We are disappointed that despite an early pitch inspection scheduled, a decision wasn't made until this stage,” the club stated. “We can only apologise for the inconvenience.”