No firm date for Ibrox cup replay

Lewis Stevenson is one of several players on interntional duty

A date for the Rangers v Hibernian Scottish Cup replay is still in the melting pot after the Edinburgh club refused to play it on Wednesday.

The Scottish FA met on Monday to make a decision after the clubs failed to agree on a replay date.

It now depends on Rangers' progress in the Uefa Cup.

If they lose to Panathinaikos, the replay will be on 4 or 5 March, but it will be played on 8 March should the Glasgow outfit defeat the Greeks.

That would be same weekend as the other quarter-finals.

And the winners of the Livingston and Partick Thistle tie will then face either Hibs or Rangers on 19 March.

Rangers had been hoping to play the tie this week after Sunday's 0-0 draw to prevent a worsening fixture backlog.

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They do not have another free midweek date for the remainder of February because of Uefa Cup and Scottish Premier League commitments.

But Hibs have several key players away on international duty this week.

And an SFA spokesperson said: "In the rounds leading up to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, it is for the clubs, in the first instance, to come to an agreement on dates for postponements and replays - with the Scottish FA helping facilitate this wherever possible.

"There has been no agreement between Hibernian and Rangers regarding the replay of their fifth-round tie."

That led to Monday's meeting of the Scottish FA emergency committee.

Rangers have seven players present at a Scotland get-together this week, while Under-21 captain Steven Naismith, Northern Ireland midfielder Steve Davis and Algeria's Brahim Hemdani would have had to be pulled out of their squads.

But Rangers manager Walter Smith did not see that an obstacle to the cup game being played this week.

He believed that Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen would be amenable.

But three Hibs players - Steven Fletcher had pulled out through injury - flew out to Portugal on Monday morning to a four-team Under-21 tournament in Portugal.

They also have three teenagers on Under-19 duty, including Paul Hanlon, who started against Rangers.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay has won his first Belgium call-up.