BOTH Celtic and Rangers could be without key players for the Glasgow derby clash next month.
The city rivals are set to face off at Celtic Park on February 2 after the match was rescheduled from January 2 due to the adjusted winter break.
But the rescheduled date could see both teams affected by international call-ups which has lead to speculation over possible call-off requests from either side.
There has, so far, been no indication either side will ask the SPFL to postpone the match due to international duty for first-team stars.
However, former Celtic boss John Barnes has revealed his opinion that either club could try to have the match moved as he commented on the "politics in football".
The Liverpool icon, speaking to BonusCodeBets, discussed the number of reasons for postponements with Covid and internationals disrupting squads.
And he added that it could be the case either club could consider asking for a rescheduled date due to the magnitude of the match.
Rangers could be without Joe Aribo for the match as Nigeria compete in the African Cup of Nations. Alfredo Morelos would also miss out after being called up by Colombia.
Celtic await confirmation of who they could be missing for the match with Japanese stars Kyogo, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi possible call-ups for Wortld Cup qualifiers.
Tom Rogic could be another omission from the match with Australia also in qualifying action before the Old Firm.
Barnes told BonusCodeBets: “A lot of teams are looking to postpone games for many different reasons. Every week there are more postponements depending on teams’ fitness, Covid cases and whatever they want.
“The SPFL isn’t any different to the Premier League in the way that we see games being postponed for many different reasons. There isn’t a definitive guide of what can qualify for a postponement, so clubs try it depending on whatever issues they have at the time.
“The SPFL isn’t playing second fiddle to international football, nor the other way round but we know the magnitude of the Old Firm game and both clubs will want to have as strong a team as possible, particularly for that game.
“If it wasn’t an Old Firm game and they were playing against a lesser team, then maybe they wouldn’t want it to be postponed. This is politics in football.”
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