Match postponement leaves Celtic with potential title push nightmare

Celtic’s Scottish Premiership fixture away to Aberdeen has been postponed.

The decision was made following a pitch inspection at 4pm on Wednesday, four hours before the match was due to kick off.

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Earlier on Wednesday, Aberdeen pointed out inclement weather had placed the fixture at risk.

“Prolonged rain over the last few weeks has made the pitch heavy,” Aberdeen wrote on X.

“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.”

A new date for the crunch clash is expected to be confirmed in due course.

This is the last thing Martin O’Neill‘s men need with Celtic going for the title as well as competing in Europe.

O’Neill’s side must beat VfB Stuttgart in a two-legged play-off to reach the last 32 of the Europa League.

Celtic host Stuttgart on February 19 before travelling to Germany on February 26.

Should they beat the German outfit, there would be only one opportunity to squeeze in the Pittodrie clash before the Scottish Premiership splits.

The final pre-split fixtures will occur on April 11, with the action to resume following the split on April 25.

Celtic will also be expected to go deep in the Scottish Cup, with their fifth round match against Dundee to be played on February 7.

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Should Celtic progress, they would play a quarter-final on the weekend of March 7, with the semi-finals to take place on April 18 and April 19.

Celtic went into the Aberdeen fixture six points behind league leaders Hearts.

However, the Hoops could have cut the gap to three given they had a game in hand.

As for Aberdeen, they lie seventh in the Scottish Premiership.

The Dons are in the midst of an alarming run of form, having won just once in their last eight league fixtures.

Aberdeen were also knocked out of the Conference League having failed to win a single fixture in the league phase as they finished second-last.