St Mirren asked for the games to be postponed after a Covid outbreak; Paisley club suspended training after "a number" of players tested positive; Celtic are seven points behind Rangers in the title race with a game in hand; the Buddies are without a win in nine in the league
Tuesday 21 December 2021 19:11, UK
St Mirren's request for games against Celtic and Rangers to be postponed after a Covid outbreak at the club have been rejected.
The club suspended training after "a number" of players tested positive for Covid-19 last week.
After more positive cases they asked for Wednesday night's game against Celtic to be postponed, claiming they do not have enough players to fulfil the fixture.
Jim Goodwin's side are scheduled to travel to Ibrox on Boxing Day to face Rangers, with the club asking for that to be called off as well - requests which have since been turned down.
A statement had read: "St Mirren Football Club can confirm that it has requested postponements of our upcoming cinch Premiership matches against Celtic and Rangers following further positive covid tests.
"We have tried our utmost to fulfil the fixture, however, following further positive covid cases this morning we are unable to field a team for either match with a significant number of first-team players and staff unavailable.
"The health and wellbeing of our players and staff remains our utmost priority and we will continue to take every precaution necessary."
"We are in continued discussions with the SPFL and we will keep supporters updated as we look for a resolution to this matter."
Current SPFL rules state teams must go ahead with matches if they have 13 fit players, including a goalkeeper. Further to that, 10 of the players must be over 18 years old.
It is understood that St Mirren have enough players available for the game to go ahead under rules brought in to provide a template for coronavirus outbreaks.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced that all outdoor events in the country will be hit by the new restrictions which will limit attendances to 500 spectators from Boxing Day for three weeks.
Sturgeon revealed the new measures in parliament on Tuesday, which will also call for one-metre physical distancing to be in place between those who attend any outdoor event during that time.
Several clubs have missing players due to the outbreak, including St Johnstone.
Callum Davidson has confirmed he'll be missing four players for Wednesday's game against Ross County due to self-isolation rules.
The four players have not tested positive for Covid-19, but under Scottish Government rules must isolate after other people in their households contracted the virus.
