Covid-hit St Mirren insisted they tried everything possible to fulfil fixtures against Celtic and Rangers before further disruption prompted them to request postponements.

St Mirren have asked the Scottish Professional Football League to reschedule their game against Celtic, who are due to visit Paisley on Wednesday night, and their Boxing Day trip to Ibrox.

The Buddies suspended training on Friday following positive tests but were still working on the basis of their match against Celtic going ahead.

The club scheduled a pre-match media conference by Zoom on Tuesday afternoon but it was twice delayed and then they admitted defeat.

A club statement read: “St Mirren Football Club can confirm that it has requested postponements of our upcoming cinch Premiership matches against Celtic and Rangers following further positive Covid tests.

“We have tried our utmost to fulfil the fixture, however, following further positive Covid cases this morning we are unable to field a team for either match with a significant number of first-team players and staff unavailable.

“The health and wellbeing of our players and staff remains our utmost priority and we will continue to take every precaution necessary.

“We are in continued discussions with the SPFL and we will keep supporters updated as we look for a resolution to this matter.”