Scottish Premiership Squad Updates

The upcoming Scottish Premiership weekend schedule has been reduced to four matches – three taking place on Saturday and one the following day – as Celtic and Rangers are set to compete in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup final. With Aberdeen not playing, this situation offers the remaining teams an opportunity to narrow the points difference on the top three clubs. Here are the latest squad updates. All fixtures are scheduled for a 15:00 kick-off on Saturday, unless otherwise specified. Hibernian’s Mykola Kuharevich is unavailable due to a groin strain. Fellow forward Kieron Bowie and centre-half Marvin Ekpiteta continue to be sidelined as longer-term absentees. Aidan Denholm, the midfielder on loan from Heart of Midlothian, Barnsley loanee Kacper Lopata, fellow centre-half Ricki Lamie, and midfielder Max Sheaf have resumed training with Ross County and their fitness will be assessed. However, defender Will Nightingale lags behind in his recovery process and is not expected to rejoin full training until the end of the month. On-loan striker Tony Watt is ineligible to play for Motherwell against his parent club. Conversely, right-back Stephen O’Donnell is cleared to start following a hamstring injury. Tom Sparrow, Ross Callachan, Paul McGinn, Callum Slattery, Jack Vale, and Zach Robinson are still unavailable. United’s Will Ferry faces a suspension, but fellow wide player Kristijan Trapanovski has returned to training and might feature. Ross Docherty and Craig Sibbald remain sidelined. St Johnstone welcome back centre-half Bozo Mikulic and Andre Raymond. However, fellow left-back Barry Douglas is still unavailable, as are long-term absentees Uche Ikpeazu, Cammy MacPherson, and Sam McClelland. The suspended Alex Gogic will not play for St Mirren, but fellow centre-half Alex Iacovitti could make a comeback. Charles Dunne remains out with a hamstring problem. Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes is optimistic about the availability of winger Matty Kennedy, midfielder Liam Donnelly, and goalkeeper Robby McCrorie. Long-term absentee Stuart Findlay is the sole player confirmed as unavailable. Hearts striker and captain Lawrence Shankland faces a suspension. Centre-half Frankie Kent is highly likely to be absent after worsening a quadriceps injury against Copenhagen. Midfielder Beni Baningime is questionable, and both defender Stephen Kingsley and midfielder Calem Nieuwenhof are still sidelined with hamstring injuries.