SFA add to Rangers' fixture chaos

Confronted by a hectic backlog of domestic and European games, Rangers hoped to settle the battle for a quarter-final place at Ibrox tomorrow night following Sunday's 0-0 draw in Edinburgh.

With no fewer than seven of their players away on international duty, however, Hibs vetoed that plan. To settle the impasse, an emergency fixtures meeting at Hampden yesterday set two potential dates for the replay next month.

If Rangers lose to Panathinaikos in the UEFA Cup, then the game will be played on Wednesday, March 5. If, however, Walter Smith's team overcome the Greek league leaders, they would face Werder Bremen or Braga on that date.

In that eventuality, Hibs would visit Glasgow on Saturday, March 8 - the day when either of the sides should be playing Partick Thistle or Livingston for a place in the last four.

Prior to this latest headache, Rangers already faced a fixtures backlog, with outstanding dates against Celtic and St Mirren still to be slotted in.

A league match against Motherwell on March 15 must also be re-arranged as a result of the Ibrox club's involvement in the CIS Cup Final 24 hours later.

Easter Road manager Mixu Paatelainen had initially declared himself willing to play the Scottish Cup replay tomorrow night. It's understood, however, that Hibs chairman Rod Petrie ruled out that option after assessing the extent of Hibernian's international commitments.

Striker Steven Fletcher has pulled out of the Scotland Under-21 squad with a knee injury, but first-team players Lewis Stevenson, Kevin McCann and Paul Hanlon were all due to join the Scotland youth set-up.

Goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay has also been called up by Belgium, while striker Dean Shiels is on Northern Ireland stand-by. Rangers also have significant international commitments, but wanted to play the game anyway.

Paatelainen remained relaxed on the issue yesterday, insisting that he was happy with the emergency committee's suggested compromise. "It was the SFA's decision and we will play whenever they decide," he said.

Hibs are already scheduled to meet Motherwell in a rearranged SPL game on March 5. If necessary, that will be further delayed to give precedence to the Cup game.

The one definitive, alternative date available to the SFA emergency meeting was Wednesday, February 27. Rangers are pencilled in to play Hearts that night in a re-arranged league game and the Cup would have taken precedence.

Sportsmail understands, however, that both the SPL and broadcasters Setanta - who are set to show the Tynecastle clash live - opposed that option. Inconvenienced by a number of late cancellations recently, the broadcasters were reluctant to see their schedules further disrupted.