No dates for the final three matches of the 2019/20 Scottish Cup have been set aside in the 2020/21 calendar.
Celtic and Aberdeen have been waiting since April to face each other with the winners facing the victors in the Hearts v Hibs clash.
Yesterday the SPFL published the Premiership fixtures for the new season with various dates set aside for international matches with the January break one of the casualties.
Saturday the 20th of February is the first free date of the new season with that weekend set aside for the 2020/21 Scottish Cup.
The SFA want the semis and final played in front of supporters at Hampden which could see the semi-finals put back until December.
Neil Doncaster went in front of the cameras to explain the new fixture card with The Sun reporting him saying:
We all want the Scottish national team to do as well as possible. We have worked closely with the SFA and Steve Clarke to have the games on a Friday night if possible, although we don’t yet know what the Europa League fixtures may be.
It is always a challenge putting the fixtures together, but this year it has been compounded by Uefa taking a lot of the dates that would normally be available for the outstanding Europa League and Champions League games.
We still have the outstanding Scottish Cup semi-finals and final that need to be played and we have the Euros next year, which means we can’t accommodate a winter break this year.
We have just 34 spaces for games and we have 33 games to fit in. If we have any delays due to weather or Scottish Cup replays then there is a problem.
In the past we’ve had a situation where clubs play four games in eight days and we hope that won’t be the case, but that is a contingency that might need to be used.
Celtic are looking to become the first team to win the trophy four seasons running and will have the chance to win the trophy twice in the one season.