St Johnstone have apologised to fans after the late postponement of their match against Rangers on Saturday lunchtime. Rangers chief executive Martin Bain said that he had spoken to the club to express his concerns and that the Perth club had accepted full responsibility.

The SPL match was called off by referee Mike Tumilty just an hour before the scheduled kick-off due to one corner of the pitch being frozen solid. Both managers agreed with the decision, stating that the conditions were dangerous but there were questions unanswered about St Johnstone’s preparations.

The statement from St Johnstone read: "St Johnstone Football Club wishes to apologise to all supporters for the late postponement of our game against Rangers FC at McDiarmid Park on Saturday 20th February 2010.

"Our undersoil heating was switched on for our midweek game against Hibernian FC and worked perfectly. The heating was again switched on on Thursday prior to our game today but an area in the penalty box at the Ormond Stand end of the ground was found to be hard.

"The match referee, Mike Tumilty, felt that this area could be dangerous for players of both clubs and called the game off. Both managers agreed with the decision. Once again, St Johnstone Football Club can only apologise for the inconvenience caused to all supporters."

Rangers chief executive Bain had complained to the club that they had not been made aware that the match was in doubt. Walter Smith and his players had travelled the day before and stayed in a hotel in Dunkeld on Friday night and were surprised by the late decision.

"I've just had a meeting with St Johnstone and expressed our concerns as to why there wasn't a phone call this morning,” Bain said. "It appears however that St Johnstone have put their hands up and accepted total responsibility.

“That being the case we've tried to see how we go forward from here. The club has accepted 100% responsibility and accepts that human error might have come into it too."

The SPL said that they would be investigating the measures taken by St Johnstone and the circumstances leading to the late postponement. A spokesman for the governing body said: “The SPL is extremely disappointed. The next step will be to review the reports from both the match delegate and the referee. It's too early to judge the rights and wrongs of the timing of this postponement."

Tickets will remain valid for the re-arranged fixture, though no date has yet been set, and those fans who cannot attend will be offered a full refund. In addition, the Perth club have said that they will reduce admission prices for the next match against Rangers by £2 per person as a gesture of goodwill.