Hearts reject Buddies switch plea

Hearts have rejected St Mirren's request to delay their SPL meeting on 21 February by 24 hours to fit in with the Buddies' Scottish Cup replay.

That match with Motherwell was moved to 19 February for television purposes.

Hearts say they have already sold many tickets and hospitality packages for the home SPL match against St Mirren.

"We sympathise with St Mirren, but have to place our season ticket holders and sponsors first," managing director Campbell Ogilvie told Hearts' website.

Motherwell came from a goal down on Saturday to set up the replay in Paisley.

As it stands, St Mirren would have less than 48 hours to recover before running out at Tynecastle.

However, Hearts feel they would end up out of pocket if they were to accommodate the Paisley club's request to rearrange their league fixture.

"We are always keen to support fellow SPL member clubs, but there are also knock-on match day operational costs that Hearts would have had to incur by moving the game to Sunday.

"We trust St Mirren will understand our position on the matter.

Taken from the BBC