Ibrox clash could be washed out

Heavy rain is threatening to cause major disruption to the weekend's football programme in Scotland.

Airdrie's First Division home match against Dundee, scheduled for Saturday, was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

And the Bank of Scotland Premier League matches at Rangers and St Mirren were both in doubt after pitch inspections were announced for Saturday morning. Rangers will check the state of the Ibrox pitch at 8.30am to determine whether their match against Dundee United can go ahead.

The playing surface has been exposed to torrential downpours over recent days in Glasgow.

The match is due to be Walter Smith's first of his second spell in charge at Ibrox, following his appointment on Wednesday.

St Mirren's Love Street fixture against Motherwell was also in danger of being called off, although the Buddies were still hoping to stage the game.

They will inspect at 10am, but a statement stressed: "The club would like to stress that this is only really a pre-cautionary action and are still hopeful of the game going ahead."