Rangers manager Philippe Clement has told Dundee they cannot blame the weather for the “crazy situation” at Dens Park.
Their rearranged Scottish Premiership game was called off on Wednesday after a second pitch inspection.
The Dens Park surface was deemed playable by referee Don Robertson at around 11am, however, heavy rain followed and he was forced to postpone it once again with four hours until kick-off.
The game has now been rescheduled for April 17 at 8pm, live on Sky Sports, and Clement is adamant it has to go ahead even if it means moving to another venue.
“We cannot put the blame on the weather because on the same evening a local team played in Dundee and the pitch of Dundee United is perfect,” he told Sky Sports News.
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Dundee club secretary Eric Drysdale says the club will urgently act to improve the Dens Park pitch and admits they could be the subject of disciplinary action from the SPFL.
“So we cannot say it’s because of the weather, but we don’t have any guarantee that it will not rain next week.
“I think the game of football has been played for more than 100 years in rain, for sure in Scotland.
“We will hear by 12pm on Tuesday where we will play on Wednesday, but for sure there needs to be a certainty to play on Wednesday.
“We already have an important cup game on Sunday, so to play later than Wednesday would be crazy. We already have a totally different preparation for this semi-final so that’s a disadvantage for us without us making a fault.”
Hibernian and Motherwell also have a chance of a top-six place, with the Easter Road club expressing concern about the sporting integrity of Dundee playing their final pre-split fixture later.
Wednesday’s game was called off following a second inspection
Clement added: “I understand the frustration of other teams saying there’s a sporting injustice because with the split there’s a lot of importance around these games. A very strange situation.
“I think it’s very important for all the league that these things can never happen because it’s a really bad image for Scottish football.
“There was really good publicity around the Old Firm, a lot of people watching the game and a lot of reactions after the game.
“That was really positive, then a few days later you get a lot of reaction all over Europe about what happened yesterday and that’s not good for the image of Scottish football.”
Dundee have had five matches called off at the Scot Foam Stadium and the club could face action from the league’s governing body – the SPFL – which is currently investigating issues at the ground.
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