Kilmarnock’s plans for a training camp in Tenerife have been thrown up in the air after they were told to play their abandoned Ladbrokes Premiership game against Motherwell on Saturday.
The match will take place at 48 hours notice after Wednesday’s game fell foul of fog moments after the second half kicked off with the score 0-0.
Both teams had a free weekend after getting knocked out of the William Hill Scottish Cup but Killie assistant manager Alex Dyer appeared to rule out playing the game on Saturday because both clubs had made plans.
But it is understood the Scottish Professional Football League insisted the game must take place this weekend.
A Kilmarnock statement read: “Following discussions between both club and the league, this decision has been made by the SPFL and the club apologises to supporters for the short notice surrounding this fixture.”
Steve Clarke’s squad were due to fly to Tenerife on Saturday and it is understood the club are not happy about the rearranged date.
They are now in discussions over their travel plans while facing the challenge of arranging match day staff at short notice to ensure the game goes ahead smoothly.
Killie were hoping to take advantage of a 12-day break between games with their subsequent fixture coming against St Mirren on Monday 11 March.
That scheduling ruled out that midweek for the rearranged game and the following two weeks are unavailable because of the international break.
There is a full midweek card on April 3 and the final games before the split take place on the weekend of April 6-7.
The subsequent midweek is free and both teams will have an available weekend on April 13-14 when the Scottish Cup semi-finals take place but the SPFL wants the game played before the split given it could have a bearing on the make-up of the top and bottom six.
Many Motherwell fans are also unhappy after being told that they will have to pay in again at Rugby Park.
Killie stated that the vouchers handed out among the 650 travelling fans after the game are obsolete.
Kilmarnock have set admission prices of £5 for adults and £3 for children for all non-season ticket holders.
In response to complaints from fans, Motherwell chief executive Alan Burrows stated the club had made representations to Kilmarnock on their behalf.
Burrows wrote on Twitter: “Because the first half ended.. the event organiser (Kilmarnock) have the discretion to charge any price. It’s not because the second half started. To reiterate, the terms of entry for Saturday’s game is Killie’s call as the home league club.”
