Livingston v Aberdeen postponed minutes after scheduled kick-off

'No benefit from earlier inspection'

Livingston's Scottish Premiership match with Aberdeen was postponed 10 minutes after it was scheduled to kick off.

Efforts to clear the Tony Macaroni Arena pitch of puddles continued while the players warmed up.

But referee Steven McLean said players felt the pitch was "unsafe" after heavy rain and both managers supported the decision to call the game off.

The fixture was previously postponed hours before kick-off on 30 December because of cold weather.

McLean arrived two hours before the scheduled start time and deemed the pitch playable but conducted an inspection after worsening wet weather.

"A really difficult decision," he told BBC Scotland. "Since we started the warm-up, it was clear that the pitch had deteriorated since we had arrived. An earlier inspection would've been of no benefit.

"There's a layer of ice on top of the pitch and then the water's starting to sit on top of it, which makes it very difficult for players to turn. My number one priority is player safety."

Efforts to dry out the pitch ultimately proved unsuccessful as heavy rain continued to fall

Both clubs are scheduled to play away from home in the league on Saturday, with Livingston visiting Celtic and Aberdeen taking on Ross County.

Livingston are then due to host Celtic next Wednesday and both clubs have fixtures on the weekend of 23-24 January and on the evening of 27 January, meaning it could be more than two weeks until the postponed game can be played.

The weekend of 30-31 January is currently free for both clubs after their Scottish Cup third-round ties were postponed as part of the Scottish FA's suspension of football outside the top two tiers.

Late call-off is the right decision - McInnes

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes said: "I think the referee's made the right decision, there's no doubt about it. I do think that pitch is unsafe and potentially dangerous.

"Obviously the Scottish Cup weekend is free. As soon as we can get it played the better."

Livingston boss David Martindale agreed and hopes the match can be played on 31 January.

"It would probably be a wee bit better if we played that on the Sunday because we've both got a midweek game on the Wednesday and two days' preparation isn't ideal," Martindale explained.

"We can totally understand it, players' welfare's got to come first. I've never seen the park with that much water on it at any one time. I've never seen it collect as much as that."

'We were quite keen to try and start the game'

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Livingston

Formation 3-4-2-1

32Stryjek

25Ambrose27Guthrie3Brown

2Devlin6Bartley18Holt12Serrano

8Pittman10Sibbald

17Robinson

• 32Stryjek
• 25Ambrose
• 27Guthrie
• 3Brown
• 2Devlin
• 6Bartley
• 18HoltBooked at 85mins
• 12SerranoSubstituted forLongridgeat 84'minutes
• 8Pittman
• 10SibbaldSubstituted forEmmanuel-Thomasat 67'minutes
• 17RobinsonSubstituted forLawsonat 87'minutes

Substitutes

• 1McCrorie
• 9Emmanuel-Thomas
• 11Forrest
• 14Mullin
• 20Reilly
• 21McMillan
• 23Longridge
• 33Lawson
• 37Kabia

Aberdeen

Formation 3-4-3

1Lewis

3Hoban14Taylor4Considine

11Hedges19Ferguson33Kennedy5Leigh

40McCrorie18McLennan17Hayes

• 1Lewis
• 3Hoban
• 14Taylor
• 4Considine
• 11Hedges
• 19Ferguson
• 33KennedySubstituted forAndersonat 84'minutes
• 5Leigh
• 40McCrorie
• 18McLennanSubstituted forWrightat 79'minutes
• 17Hayes

Substitutes

• 2Logan
• 10McGinn
• 15McGeouch
• 21Anderson
• 24Campbell
• 25Wright
• 26Virtanen
• 37Ngwenya
• 43Woods

Referee:

Steven McLean

Match Stats

Home TeamLivingstonAway TeamAberdeen

Possession

Home48%

Away52%

Shots

Home6

Away9

Shots on Target

Home2

Away2

Corners

Home3

Away2

Fouls

Home16

Away13

Live Text

1. Post update

   Match ends, Livingston 0, Aberdeen 0.

2. 90'+4'

   Full Time

   Second Half ends, Livingston 0, Aberdeen 0.

3. 90'+4'

   Post update

   Ross McCrorie (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

4. 90'+4'

   Post update

   Foul by Nicky Devlin (Livingston).

5. 90'+3'

   Post update

   Ash Taylor (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

6. 90'+3'

   Post update

   Foul by Jon Guthrie (Livingston).

7. 90'+3'

   Post update

   Corner, Livingston. Conceded by Joe Lewis.

8. 90'+3'

   Post update

   Attempt missed. Scott Pittman (Livingston) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.

9. 90'+2'

   Post update

   Foul by Scott Wright (Aberdeen).

10. 90'+2'

    Post update

    Marvin Bartley (Livingston) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

11. 90'+1'

    Post update

    Attempt missed. Bruce Anderson (Aberdeen) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Tommie Hoban with a cross.

12. 89'

    Post update

    Attempt saved. Steve Lawson (Livingston) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Scott Pittman with a through ball.

13. 88'

    Post update

    Attempt saved. Ash Taylor (Aberdeen) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Jonny Hayes.

14. 88'

    Post update

    Scott Wright (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

15. 88'

    Post update

    Foul by Jon Guthrie (Livingston).

16. 87'

    Substitution

    Substitution, Livingston. Steve Lawson replaces Scott Robinson.

17. 86'

    Post update

    Foul by Lewis Ferguson (Aberdeen).

18. 86'

    Post update

    Marvin Bartley (Livingston) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

19. 85'

    Booking

    Jason Holt (Livingston) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

20. 85'

    Post update

    Ross McCrorie (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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